The Virgin Islands is hosting the sixth meeting of the Inter-Virgin Islands Council this week, Premier Dr. Orlando Smith said in the House of Assembly last Thursday.
As in previous years, the consultative body will discuss “fostering and promoting continuous harmonious relations between our two territories,” Dr. Smith said.
The council is the legacy of a previous body, the Inter-Virgin Islands Conference, which was established in 1951, he said. In those days, the pressing issues were trading in produce, poultry and charcoal.
“One of the benefits, however, was the fact that trading between the BVI and the USVI in the 1950s influenced our decision when in 1959 we were given approval to make the US dollar our official currency,” Dr. Smith said.
This iteration of the council was established in 1990, with the two territories signing a memorandum of understanding and holding their first meeting on St. Croix in April 2005.
On the agenda for this year’s meeting are reports from various standing committees and discussions on law enforcement, pleasure boating, sport fishing, cooperation in tourism, energy and utilities, culture, and education, Dr. Smith said.
“Today our territories’ mutual interests and challenges are different than in 1951, but the spirit of family and oneness are the same,” Dr. Smith said.
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