Anguilla’s Chief Minister and Minister of Finance will be among leaders and other officials from the Overseas Territories meeting in Tahiti, French Polynesia, to discuss their countries’ need for the continuation of aid from the European Union following Brexit.
According to the Executive Council’s Minutes, dated February 7, 2019, Mr. Banks will be absent from February 23 to March 4 to attend the forum in Tahiti. He will be accompanied by Permanent Secretary, Tourism and Economic Development, Mr. Larry Franklin, and the Commerce Officer in the Ministry of Finance, Ms. Sherma Hodge.
Commenting on the European Union/Overseas Countries and Territories Forum, Chief Minister Banks told The Anguillian: “This is probably the last time for that meeting,” Mr. Banks stated. “We will be speaking as a group of British Overseas Territories which still want to have some relationship with the European Union, especially for social programmes such as education and training.”
Over the past several years, the European Union has been the sole donor of funds to Anguilla for budgetary and project support. That assistance has been of great value to the island, and its continuation would be a welcome contribution to the financing of some aspects of the Government’s public services.
French Polynesia is a set of islands comprising an overseas country attached to France. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, it is halfway between California and Australia. Tahiti and its islands cover four million square kilometres of ocean which is the same area as the European Union.
