OCES political meeting today

Leaders of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will seek to iron out difficulties related to their proposed economic and political union with Trinidad and Tobago at a meeting in St Kitts today.



In August, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, along with the leaders of Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, agreed, to a joint declaration.



The countries are seeking to establish a framework for closer cooperation towards the achievement of a single economy by 2011 and appropriate political integration by 2013.



Since then, OECS leaders met in St Lucia and fully endorsed the proposal.



But prime minister of St Kitts, Denzil Douglas, has described the move towards political union as a very serious initiative and pointed to the need for further discussion on the way forward.



Douglas is also anticipating that the move towards closer union will see the oil rich republic investing some of its petroleum dollars in the OECS sub-region.