Prime Minister Drew Urges OECS Leaders to Capitalize on Collective Bargaining Power at 7th Assembly Sitting

Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, June 18, 2025 (PMO)— Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Hon. Dr. Terrance Drew, delivered a powerful and reflective intervention during the 7th Sitting of the OECS Assembly on Tuesday, June 17, 2025. The historic sitting, held for the first time in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, took place ahead of the opening ceremony of the 77th Meeting of the OECS Authority. Prime Minister Drew was joined by Member of the Opposition, Hon. Alexis Jeffers, as part of the delegation representing St. Kitts and Nevis.

In his remarks, Prime Minister Drew championed the strength of regional unity, stressing that greater cohesion among OECS Member States will lead to improved outcomes both within the region and on the global stage. “The more unified we are, the more we work together as a region, the more we can deliver,” Prime Minister Drew asserted, emphasizing that the region’s collective voice and action can unlock far greater benefits than any single country acting alone.

Prime Minister Drew also used the opportunity to illustrate the practical advantages of unity through the example of regional procurement systems, particularly in healthcare. “Because of structures where we buy medication in bulk, many of us don’t even recognize that the cost of insulin is very cheap in our region,” he noted. “Almost every country in this union has insulin free of cost, or the cost is so minimal that nobody ever speaks about it… The OECS is delivering the platform and a mechanism to ensure that our people can have access to medication as basic as insulin.”

Expanding on the theme of regional synergy, Dr. Drew challenged OECS leaders to consider similar collective action in energy procurement. “The cost of energy in the OECS is one of the highest in the world… What if we were to buy in bulk our energy needs? That cost… can be driven down to 10 cents because we have more bargaining power.”

He further advocated for a stronger and more unified OECS presence on the international stage, stating, “Our unification is not only felt in our region. On the international stage, the more united we are, the bigger and better the outcomes we can have.”

In a heartfelt appeal for political maturity and national collaboration, Prime Minister Drew also reflected on his own efforts to foster collaborative progress within St. Kitts and Nevis. “On the second day that I was elected as Prime Minister, I called the Leader of the Opposition and I said to him, ‘There are some things for national development on which we will not disagree.’” He used the case of the geothermal energy project in Nevis as a prime example of bipartisan cooperation, revealing that decades of political strife had stalled progress on the resource until his administration and the opposition agreed to act ‘as a single entity.’ “Look at the results that we have now,” he said. “We have reached the point where we are about to begin development of the geothermal project, something that could not have been done for decades.”

Prime Minister Drew concluded with a passionate reminder to fellow leaders and parliamentarians: “Let us continue to work to bring weight to unification, which will result in benefits for all of us.” 

The OECS Assembly continues to serve as a key legislative arm for advancing the integration agenda across the Eastern Caribbean, and the presence of both Government and Opposition representatives from St. Kitts and Nevis underscores the nation’s commitment to regionalism and cooperative governance.

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