Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): His Excellency Ian M. Queeley, Ambassador of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Embassies of the Eastern Caribbean States to the Kingdom of Morocco, said that he has been working diligently to advance bilateral cooperation between the North African country and the OECS (Organization of Eastern Caribbean States).
“We are currently in the process of getting finalized visa-waiver agreement as well as a double taxation agreement with OECS countries,” he said. “I can say that these two pieces are with the inter-ministerial committee awaiting approval. All of the hard work has gone into the draft.”
Another area that Ambassador Queeley said that there is cooperation is in the offering of scholarships to study in Morocco.
“Right now, we have enhanced the visibility of the Moroccan scholarship. We were able to get quotas up to twenty (20) per member state and so we are hoping that our young persons will take advantage of that and make good on that,” His Excellency Queeley said.
“Additionally, we had engagements with the director of the Americas and her team to sort of reach out to other universities to explore exchange programmes with the University of the West Indies and about three other universities that we have identified and so we are looking forward to following through on those,” Ambassador Queeley said.
Other areas of cooperation between the OECS and the Kingdom of Morocco that Ambassador Queeley mentioned include agriculture and fisheries and renewable energy with Morocco having the largest solar energy plant in the world.
“We are doing quite a lot of work in the background to advance St. Kitts and Nevis and the rest of the OECS,” he said.
Ambassador Queeley’s remarks were made at a press engagement at the recently concluded Diplomatic Week (April 23-28) in St. Kitts, which was organized by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.