WILLEMSTAD--Representatives of the Dutch Caribbean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ernst & Young (EY) and the Government of Curaçao, on March 16, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen the commercial ties between the islands.
The hurricanes that caused great damage to the Windward Islands last year was the reason for the agreement. From March 17th till 20, a meeting was organised in St. Maarten for the Dutch Caribbean business community with the aim to help the island’s economy back on its feet.
More than 100 companies exchanged ideas and collaborated on innovation, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship with the aim of promoting the commercial ties between the islands in the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
The MoU aims to facilitate this cooperation and should be seen as a first step to further strengthen the cooperation between the various stakeholders within the islands. The agreement in principle also requires that all parties involved will continue to exchange their expertise. Moreover, the parties indicated that they will continue to work for cooperation between government and the business community. Attention will be paid to logistics, financial arrangements and programmes for effective business operations.
The intention is that the governments of the other islands will also sign a MoU with all the stakeholders involved. The Dutch Caribbean Chamber of Commerce (DCCC) is a collaboration between the Chambers of Commerce of the various islands.
