NEW CHAMBER PRESIDENT ELECTED

The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture held its 129th Annual General Meeting on Wednesday November 20, 2013 at the Royal Saint Lucian Conference room. It was there that Gordon Charles of JQ Charles Group of Companies was elected President. Esther Browne-Weeks of East Caribbean Financial Holding was elected to serve as First Vice President.

The new complete board of directors of the Chamber also includes Lanfraze Cherubin of WLBL as 2nd Vice President and immediate past president Gerard Bergasse of Tropical Shipping. Other board members include Martin Dorville of Consolidated Foods Ltd, Margaret Monplaisir-St. Lucia Distillers Ltd, Trevor Louisy-St. Lucia Electricity Services Ltd, Cheryl Renwick-Renwick and Company, Karen Peter -Caribbean Metals Ltd, Sue Monplaisir-The Wave St. Lucia Limited and Brenda Duncan of BDO.

The 129th Annual General Meeting of the Chamber was addressed by Mr. Wayne Dass, CEO of CARICRIS, the regional credit rating agency, who spoke to the “Medium Terms Prospects for St. Lucia in the context of St. Lucia’s debt profile and the role that SMEs could play.” The Feature Address was delivered by Dr. Warren Smith, President of Caribbean Development Bank, who also spoke to the “Short to Medium Term Prospects for the St. Lucia Economy, identifying for marco-economic stability, improved productivity and competitiveness and improving the macro-economic environment as key issues to be addressed by St. Lucia.

The President of the Chamber, Mr. Gerard Bergasse in his address maintained focus on the Chambers’ “Making it Easier to Do Business in St. Lucia” agenda and challenged the Prime Minister, in absentia, to take responsibility for having “one” reform implemented within the next year. Since 2007, St.Lucia has descended from number 27 in the World to number 64, in the 2014, report.

During the closed business session was when the election of the Board of Directors and the presentation of audited financial statements transpired. The Executive Director’s Report was once again presented in the form of a magazine.