International Airlines Invited To St. Vincent And The Grenadines

NEW YORK, United States CMC – International airlines have been invited to St. Vincent and the Grenadines “to finalize arrangements and look at scheduling” as the island prepares to open its international airport at Argyle next year, Tourism, Culture and Sports Minister, Cecil “Ces” McKie, has said.

McKie told the Caribbean media Corporation (CMC) that construction on the multi-million dollar airport, which began in 2008, is expected to be completed early next year and  “by October next year, persons (in the Diaspora) should be able to come home”.

He said the tourism sector is expected to benefit tremendously from the opening of the airport.

“We expect to triple the numbers (of tourist arrivals) within two years, once the airport finishes,” he said, adding that a number of airlines in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have been invited to St. Vincent and the Grenadines before year’s end for talks.

McKie said, the international airport would also enable the country to better market agricultural products overseas, noting that “marketing is a challenge now.”

He told CMC that the agricultural sector has recently made two very successful shipments of “all types of agricultural products” to Brooklyn, New York, where arguably most Vincentians in the Diaspora reside.

“Now that you have a guaranteed market, it’ll give us confidence that you’ll get our products sold,” McKie said.

McKie said, St. Vincent and the Grenadines was the only country in the sub-regional Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to have experienced two consecutive years of growth in recent years.

“All in all, the economy is doing well. For all these reasons, I can put forward with confidence that people can come home and invest. The climate is right.”

McKie said there were a number of developments taking place in St. Vincent and the Grenadines including the National Economic and Social Development Plan 2013-15, “that captures all aspects of development of the country and how we intend to go forward”.

McKie said successful testing and production of geo-terminal energy at La Soufriere volcano by the Clinton Foundation would be a “major game changer” in helping to reduce the nation’s energy bill.

He said the country would also benefit from expansion of medical colleges, with the St. James School of Medicine joining three other medical schools – Trinity Medical College, All Saints Medical School and American School of Medicine.