Above: St Maarten (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

St Maarten should be a financial and economic hub of the Caribbean, St Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said this week.

Speaking to German Ambassador to the Dutch Kingdom Franz Kremp, the Prime Minister said it behooved the country to “explore its place within the international community much more significantly.”

Kremp was in St Maarten to give a lecture on the concept of federal government at the University of St Martin in Philipsburg, which was organized by the Chamber of Commerce.

“Where do we go as a country and where do we go as St Maarten?” she asked, noting that she had held discussions with the Chamber of Commerce on the role of St Maarten as a potential “sub-hub or hub in the Caribbean.”

The Prime Minister said it was important to reach out globally to enhance growth for St Maarten.

“In order for us to maximize the potential that St Maarten has as a country we need to jointly decide on a course forward and we need to ask ourselves what we should do with the potential regarding the opportunities that are out there for St Maarten as a country in the Caribbean Region and indeed part of the bigger world,” she said. “We need to be able to step up to the plate and come up with a joint approach on how to move St. Maarten forward socially, economically and administratively.”