SVG is set to become the Eastern Caribbean’s hub for the ALBA Bank
The ALBA Bank Ministerial Council approved the establishment of a representative office in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in principle.
The announcement was made by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on Sunday’s WEFM Issue at Hand programme.
Gonsalves stated that the ALBA bank makes a significant number of investments, either directly with its own funds or with funds that it administers for other organisations; they include a substantial number of investments in the Eastern Caribbean.
“Lots of investments in the eastern Caribbean—Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, and Barbuda.” Grenada, Dominica, a little in Saint Lucia; there’s a little in Guyana, but in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, many”.
“From the time the ALBA bank was founded 14 years ago, the highest percentage of the loan in the aggregate is to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, not just the government but to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the government, particularly in the area of airport construction but also Vincyfresh, which were monies borrowed by Winfresh to set up the plant at Diamond.”
Gonsalves stated that the percentage of total loans for projects in St. Vincent, whether by the government or other entities, exceeds that of any other country; Cuba ranks second in terms of the percentage of the total resources of ALBA bank loans.
Gonsalves said that there will be a ministerial council meeting in December, and the ministerial council has instructed the management of the bank to determine how much this office will cost in St. Vincent.
A representative presence of the ALBA bank will be crucial for us and the bank itself, according to Gonsalves. “Someone has to come on the ground and find a place to rent, as well as the other people they will need to employ, including at least one technical person to follow through on the projects in our part of the world,” he said.
Banco del ALBA is a financial institution committed to promoting economic and social development, the convergence and complementarity of economic integration processes, the reduction of asymmetries, poverty, and social exclusion, and the unity, development, and consolidation of the Latin American and Caribbean region.
Presidents and/or heads of government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples’ Trade Treaty initiated it in Caracas on January 26, 2008. The Founding Act of the Bank of Alba was signed at the VI ALBA-TCP Summit.
The Agreement Establishing the Bank of Alba, adopted in Caracas on November 5, 2008, by the ministerial representatives of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Republic of Cuba, the Plurinational State of Bolivia, and the Republic of Nicaragua, to which Saint Vincent and the Grenadines subsequently acceded in 2011, the Commonwealth of Dominica in 2012, and Antigua and Barbuda in 2019.
In most countries, a representative office cannot handle transactions or contractual matters. A branch office, on the other hand, is a direct extension of the parent company and can engage in core activities like sales and contracts.
