Regional Trade Workshop for Commonwealth Eastern Caribbean Countries

The Commonwealth Secretariat (CS) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat hosted a five-day trade facilitation symposium which included a training workshop by the Negotiation Lab on March 7th & 8th, 2013 at the Bay Gardens Hotel in Castries, St. Lucia.

Thirty senior officials representing  AnguillaAntigua & Barbuda,  the  British Virgin IslandsDominicaGrenadaSt. Kitts and NevisSt. Lucia , and  St. Vincent and the Grenadines attended. The program was funded by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation.

The Harvard method of “Principle Negotiation was taught and demonstrated through simulation exercises, lectures and a new Commonwealth guide for small state negotiators entitled “Against the Odds – A Guide to Trade Negotiations for Developing Countries” written for the CS by Emily Jones of the Global Economic Governance Program at Oxford University.  

Head of the Trade Policy Unit at OECS Secretariat, Virginia Paul said “essentially the objective was to aid officials in the preparation of participating in agreements with trading partners. The signing of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA’s) and other international arrangements have often underscored the need for greater capacity and expertise in the highly complex and involved processes”

This video was originally broadcasted on HTS Channel 4 News in St. Lucia on March 12, 2013

Commonwealth Eastern Caribbean Trade Workshop - March 2013

OECS trade facilitation TV News Report