It is very important that we take into consideration the economic factors that are at play when decisions are made
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams and members of her Cabinet received a presentation from the Economic Monitoring Committee (EMC) on the Economic Progress for Country St. Maarten at the AC Wathey Legislative Hall on Tuesday. The PM received presentations from the Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEZVT) Mr. Miguel de Weever and representatives from the Department of Statistics, Economic Affairs, and the Department of Tourism. Representatives from Private Sector Organizations like the SHTA and the St. Maarten Marine Trades Association (SMMTA) were also present at the presentation.
The EMC started in the beginning of 2011 as an internal committee of the Ministry TEZVT to monitor the economy of St. Maarten and was expanded in the latter part of 2011 to include external stakeholders such as the SHTA, SMMTA, Chamber of Commerce, Ministry Finance and the Department of Labor Affairs.
The primary objective of EMC is to gather useful information that will assist in decision making, to establish economic indicators, and to monitor these indicators and identify leading indicators. The EMC group meets on a quarterly basis to discuss various topics such as Business and Labor Environment, Consumer Environment, Tourism Market and the Marine Industry.
The Prime Minister asked pointed questions during the presentation and stated that the information provided by the EMC will guide certain decisions taken by the Council of Ministers regarding financial matters for country St. Maarten. "As a Government it is very important that we take into consideration the economic factors which are at play when decisions are made that have an economic impact. Therefore it is essential that we use the information provided by the EMC when certain questions need to be answered or certain decisions need to be made within the Council of Ministers," commented the Prime Minister.