Turks and Caicos Islands
GOVERNMENT

(Grand Turk )- As part of its membership of the Association of Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union (OCTA), the Turks and Caicos Islands will be hosting the Association’s first Biennial Small Islands Micro-economies [SIME] Conference on the Island of Providenciales during February 15-18, 2005.

Approximately, 15 countries and representatives of several international donor organizations would be represented at the inaugural Small Islands Micro-economies Conference, which is being sponsored jointly by the European Commission, OCTA and the TCI Government.

The Small Islands Micro-economies Conference is aimed at providing a dedicated forum where OCTA member countries and other small economies can meet to discuss and develop action plans to address issues critical to their development. The SIME Conference will concentrate on economies with populations of 250,000 and less, with a particular reference to those of about 50,000 people. In this regard the SIME Conference will complement the work of regional and international bodies, which have focused attention on economies of 5 million or less people.

As part of the Conference, Governments of the micro-economies will have discussions, candid exchanges and a sharing of experiences on the important areas of Education, E-Governance, Health Services delivery, Tourism, Transport and Disaster Preparedness. These areas are critical to development of micro-economies. The Conference will also be addressed by international development experts from Europe, the Caribbean and the Indian and Pacific areas of the World; along with local officials and the private sector from the Turks and Caicos Islands and OCTA member states.

It is expected that the outcomes of the SIME Conference will be published as an international document concerning best practices or approaches to problems facing micro-economies. The Conference outcomes should form the basis for ongoing dialogue and regional projects and other forms of development collaboration between micro-economies and the wider international development community.

Over time it is hoped that the inauguration of the Small Islands Micro-economies Conferences will enable the smaller economies of the world to build policies and relationships that will give them greater resilience, improve international understanding of their development context and as a result reduce their vulnerability.

For More Information: visit the Government’s website: www.turksandcaicosislands.gov.tc
or contact: PS/Finance or Chief Economist at Telephone:926-2801