OECS leaders open 78th Authority Meeting in Antigua under Browne’s chairmanship

The opening ceremony of the 78th Meeting of the OECS Authority was held at St John's, Antigua and Barbuda on Sunday June 21, 2026 at 4 pm. The meeting was streamed online on the official pages of OECS Facebook and YouTube and is being held under the leadership of Dr. Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda.

OECS Authority is the highest decision making body integrated to direct the strategic developments in the region and oversee the execution of the roles in policy building. It features the Heads of Government of all Member States, represented by their respective Prime Ministers, Premiers and Presidents of French Overseas Territories. The Chairmanship of the Authority rotates annually among Protocol Member States in alphabetical order: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

This year, OECS, broadly known as the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, is hosting the 78th meeting of OECS Authority from June 21-22 at the Royalton Antigua Resort located in Five Islands, St. Johns. The convention aims to focus on key regional priorities, including “economic development, regional integration, climate resilience, security, food and energy security, freedom of movement, and enhanced cooperation in areas such as health, education, and digital transformation.”

PM Browne assumed the Chairmanship of the OECS Authority from the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Godwin Friday during the opening ceremony on Sunday.

During the ceremony, PM Browne marked the completion of 45 years of the association. He highlighted the significance of the “functional co-operation” of the region and emphasised on the success of the institutions built together. He continued that ECFB (East Caribbean Financial Bank) has served the purpose of building collective resilience of the East Caribbean currency against the global testimony and that East Caribbean Court has duly delivered justice across the issues. Pointing towards the Common Procurement Mechanism of East Caribbean countries for the purchase of pharmaceuticals, he underscored the saving of many millions of EC dollars.

In the end, he reiterated that his administration has rejected the US proposal of inducing 120 Third-Country Nationals (TCN) per year, insisting on a much lower rate of 10 per year in an aim to curb criminal elements in the region.