President Dr. Warren Smith from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), concluded their on Wednesday by meeting with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry and receiving a tour of Princess Juliana International Airport.
CDB President Smith said his visit exceeded the delegations expectations. “We came to develop a relationship between Sint Maarten and the CDB. We met with key officials in the public and private sectors and had very good discussions with respect to Sint Maarten joining CDB,” Dr. Warren Smith said on Wednesday.
President Warren Smith added: “We spoke about the value of Sint Maarten and the value of the bank. I also shared with officials the types of projects that the CDB could finance. All and all, it was a great trip and we leave optimistic.”
Chef de Cabinet of the Ministry of Tourism and Economic Affairs, Transport & Telecommunications (Ministry TEATT) Ludwig Ouenniche, on behalf of the Minister of TEATT Hon. Ted Richardson, stated that an advice had been prepared for the Council of Ministers with respect to starting the process of Sint Maarten becoming a member of the CDB.
The CDB delegation arrived in the country on Monday.
The exploratory talks with CDB according to Ouenniche, goes back to March 2014 when Minister of TEATT Hon. Ted Richardson was in The Netherlands, and in his meeting with Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs reps, he emphasized on the need for Sint Maarten to become a member of the CDB.
On Monday the CDB delegation met with His Excellency the Governor, Ministers Ted Richardson, Martin Hassink and Minister Cornelius de Weever.
CDB reps also met with the Social Health Insurance Bank (SZV), Directorate of Foreign Relations, and the St. Maarten Pension Fund. The bank officials were also given a tour of the Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facility.
The CDB is a regional financial institution which was established by an Agreement signed on October 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica, and entered into force on January 26, 1970.
The Bank came into existence for the purpose of contributing to the harmonious economic growth and development of the member countries in the Caribbean and promoting economic cooperation and integration among them, having special and urgent regard to the needs of the less developed member of the region.
Regional members are entitled to borrow funds from the Bank and also have voting rights, which entitles them to be a part of the decision-making process of the Bank. The regional members are: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Other regional members who are not entitled to borrow funds from the Bank are: Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. Non-regional members having voting rights but are not entitled to borrow funds from the Bank are: Canada, China, Germany, Italy and United Kingdom.
The CDB delegation included Yvette Lemonias Seale, Vice President (Corporate Services) and Bank Secretary, and Volville Forsythe, Assistant Bank Secretary.
The permanent headquarters of the bank is located at Widey, St. Michael, Barbados.
