OECS countries sharpening trade negotiation skills

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – Trade officials from the sub-regional organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have started a weeklong workshop aimed at enhancing their capacity to formulate effective trade policies and boost participation in regional and international trade negotiations. The event is being jointly hosted by the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat and the OECS and has attracted participation from Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Economic Advisor at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Veniana Qalo, said the workshop will also provide an opportunity for the Commonwealth to present a summary of its analytical work on the fiscal programmes and to demonstrate how trade data and policy analysis tools can be utilised by negotiators.