OECS Business Magazine Launched Here

DOING business within the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is poised to become even better, thanks to the recent launch of a new magazine, the OECS Business Focus.

A brainchild of the OECS Commission, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the OECS Business Council and Advertising & Marketing Services (AMS), the new magazine is expected to become the central mechanism for the dissemination of business intelligence on and for the OECS.

OECS Director General, Dr.Didacus Jules, spoke highly of the new publication last Thursday when the first issue of the quarterly was launched at the OECS Commission’s headquarters on Morne Fortune.

Dr. Jules said that in a single economic space that involves free movement of people, goods, services, capital and ideas, every effort must be made to link the right information with key market players.

“In today’s brutally competitive global business environment, the rapid dissemination, the free and easy access to information and ideas is an often decisive factor in succeeding or failing,” Dr. Jules said at the press launch that was carried live via video feed throughout some OECS countries.

Describing the new venture as “an amalgamation of the best strengths of key economic organs of the OECS integration project and the private sector”, the OECS Director General said the magazine’s content will be a voice that OECS business people especially will want to listen to in order to know what opportunities exist within the region.

“The tremendous information and human analytic resources of our Central Bank, coupled with the growing engagement of the Commission through its Competitive Business Unit in supporting innovative business, is now being aligned with the united and independent voice of the private sector and AMS Advertising,” Dr. Jules said.

The magazine will be available in OECS countries for free as part of a self-financing initiative that will sustain itself through advertising. A supporting website, www.oecsbusinessfocus.com, will contain digital copies of the magazine.

“The magazine, website and social media extensions will be a primary channel for the accessing of the kind of information and business intelligence that will stimulate investment and the visioning of opportunity in the single economic space,” Dr. Jules said. “Professional contributions will come from experts in the organs of the OECS, universities in the region, (and) expert practitioners in industry and business.”

Dr. Jules said the inaugural issue of OECS Business Focus focuses on Saint Kitts and Nevis for a number of key reasons: that twin-island federation being the birthplace of the OECS integration project, the location for the signing of both the Treaty and Revised Treaty of Basseterre, and the historical performance of its economy.

Gordon Charles, President of the OECS Business Council, an organization made up of representatives from the private sector in each OECS country, said the Council looks into matters and issues relative to the region. The magazine, he said, fits right into the organization’s thrust for a better business climate.

“From the OECS Business Council’s perspective, I want to say how vital and critically important this (magazine) is as it spells the way forward for some of the things that we expect out of the development of our OECS single space,” Charles said.

Lokesh Singh, Publisher/Managing Editor of Advertising & Marketing Services, presented copies of the new magazine to Dr. Jules and Charles. Singh’s company has been producing various publications, including Saint Lucia Business Focus and Antigua Business Focus. Singh said the new magazine will serve as a catalyst that can impact trade, investment and development in a meaningful way.

“There are some outstanding elements of the OECS which have not necessarily gained the recognition they should and we believe this vehicle will allow you to showcase some of those efforts,” Singh said.

The quarterly magazine will alternate between a geographic focus on individual OECS member states and a thematic focus that will feature in-depth coverage of key economic sectors within the OECS region.