Above: talks between St Maarten and CDB officials

By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Maarten is considering an application to become a member of the Caribbean Development Bank.

A delegation led by CDB President Dr Warren Smith arrived in Philipsburg on Monday to hold talks with St Maarten’s Council of Ministers about the country’s considerations for application.

It was the first-ever visit to the country by CDB officials, a trip that included meetings with Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams, the Governor and Ministers Ted Richardson, Martin Hassink and Cornelius de Weever.

“This visit by CDB basically will be to determine the pros and cons to become a member of the CDB and what are the financial and logistical conditions to achieve this,” St Maarten’s government said in a statement.

Members of the CDB are entitled to borrow funds from the bank and also have voting rights.

The CDB’s regional members are Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts & Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.