Castries, June 19, 2015.- The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) started celebrations for its 34th anniversary yesterday with a call to consolidate development and sustainable growth for its 10 partners.

OECS Director General, Dr. Didacus Jules, said in a statement this will involve initiatives such as a revitalization of the Eastern Caribbean stock exchange to facilitate the movement of capital and resources across the region and creating new entrepreneur opportunities for young people.

He asked to make progress on the single domestic space for travel via the proposed OECS border management and technical agencies integration project that will ultimately result in the abolition of the dreaded immigration card and make movement as easy as swiping an OECS smart ID card and walk through.

Among the achievements of the organizations, Jules stressed how the Eastern Caribbean dollar is holding its own, despite the global economic crisis. However, he insisted on finding strategies to strengthen the common currency in an increasingly competitive world «with an uncompromising dominance of the large and the powerful».