St. Patrick’s Co-operative Credit Union (SPCU) General Manager Peter Queeley has confirmed that over one hundred representatives and decision makers from Credit Unions across the Sub-region will travel to Montserrat this week for the OECS Credit Union Summit. a conference that is held annually to allow Credit Unions to come together to discuss issues affecting the movement.
The theme of the 13th Annual OECS Credit Union Summit which will begin on Wednesday, August 19, departing Sunday, August 23, 2015, is “The Future of the OECS Credit Union Movement in the context of the OECS Economic Union and Single Financial Space”
According to Mr. Queely this is the first time Montserrat will host the conference, suggesting that the impact to the island will be far reaching.
Mr. Queely says, “I think the significance is really that there needed to be some form of demonstration to the OECS Region and to the outside world that Montserrat in itself has recovered from the actual activities of the Soufriere Hill Volcano some twenty years ago and also to demonstrate that as a nation we can host events of this nature.
Since the early 90s SPCCU had been hoping to host the large conference of Caribbean Credit Unions, (CCCU) but for the advent of the volcanic crisis when all advice to the SPCCU at the time was that it should shut down.
From an economic standpoint Queely says, the hosting of the summit represents a form of event tourism and with this type of activities the major beneficiaries are normally the hotels, guest houses, villas, restaurants, persons that are in the business of catering, transport. Also persons that are in the business of also tours.
A packed schedule of events await the overseas visitors and especially those from the OECS.
