KINGSTOWN, St Vincent — Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves says he wants to engage in discussions, not a fight, with Trinidad and Tobago over the fuel subsidy Port-of-Spain provides to its national carrier, Caribbean Airlines (CAL). Gonsalves said he has now received a legal opinion on the matter and is now seeking the talks with the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led coalition People’s Partnership administration. Gonsalves contends that the fuel subsidy given to CAL contravenes the treaty governing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to which both countries belong.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Government confident of accessing millions to complete new international airport KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Feb 8, CMC - The St. Vincent and the Grenadines government says it is confident it will this year raise the US$80 million needed to complete the international airport at Argyle. The EC$652 million (one EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) airport is scheduled to become operational by 2014 and Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said he recently held talks with the Venezuelan government and it seems that the application for a US$10 loan “is progressing well.
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace Tuesday brushed aside predictions by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves that St. Vincent and the Grenadines would record economic growth in 2013, saying the economy is worse than the country is being made to believe.
Responding to the EC$799.1 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) national budget presentation on Monday night by Prime Minister Gonsalves, the leader of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) accused the government of engaging in “gonsieconomics”.
The Third General Assembly Meeting of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) was held on 13-14 January 2013 in Abu Dhabi, and the CARICOM Secretariat represented by its Programme Manager, Energy, participated as an Observer. Four CARICOM Member States were also represented, viz, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Guyana, and St. Vincent and Grenadines.
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has presented Parliament with a EC$799.1 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) national budget outlining increased taxes and predicting economic growth for St. Vincent and the Grenadines in 2013. Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace is expected to respond later on Tuesday to the fiscal package that Prime Minister Gonsalves said underscored his administration’s determination to continue the economic growth the island had been experiencing in recent times.
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonslaves is urging nationals to purchase shares in the Bank of St. Vincent and the Grenadines that on Monday launched an initial public offering (IPO) hoping to raise expansion capital of more than EC$17 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents).
The former state-owned bank, is offering two million shares at a price of EC$8.64 and Gonsalves told a news conference “it is not a bad investment.
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves wants Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders to seriously address the regional airline industry when they meet later this year. CARICOM leaders will meet in Haiti for their inter-sessional summit in February and Gonsalves said that apart from cooperation with other airlines, there is need to address matters such as energy costs, fuel and “we need to address the subsidy which CAL (Caribbean Airlines) is getting and competing with LIAT in the same space, the same single economic space.
 (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The CARICOM Secretariat has embarked on a series of stakeholder consultations in five Member States – Belize, Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines - to solicit feedback on the draft CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan (CYDAP) 2012 - 2017.
The Eighteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on 12-14 February 2007 under the Chairmanship of Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government. Other Heads of Government in attendance were_ Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Hon. Baldwin Spencer; Prime Minister of Barbados, Rt. Hon. Owen Arthur; Prime Minister of Dominica, Hon.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) — The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has been granted $2.1 million US from the World Bank through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to support a pilot adaptation program in three Caribbean Small Island States (Dominica, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines).