Libyan Investment Bank to be located in St Kitts

TRIPOLI, Libya, February 5, 2010 – The twin-island federation of St Kitts and Nevis will be the location for the proposed Libyan Investment Bank.

Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas made the disclosure yesterday during a trip to Tripoli for discussions with Libyan government officials. He said Libyan President Mummar Kaddafi had expressed his full support for the establishment of the bank in St Kitts and Nevis.

“It is from this bank in the Eastern Caribbean from which investment funds will flow for the financing of important projects in the Eastern Caribbean and the wider Caribbean region,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the Bank is important to St Kitts and Nevis as his administration continues efforts to diversify the national economy and look for additional financing to support a number of important of important developmental projects.

Dr Douglas also revealed that six members of the Libyan Government are in St Lucia to establish the People’s Bureau of Libya in the Eastern Caribbean. Discussions on the location of the Libyan Investment Company continues and within the next few weeks the Governments of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will decide in which of their countries it will be established.

“We have agreed to establish an OECS Diplomatic Mission in Tripoli and so over the next few weeks and months, it would be my duty as the current Chairman of the OECS to pursue this important initiative so that the Eastern Caribbean countries will have a presence in Tripoli,” said Prime Minister Douglas.

During an audience with the Libyan President, Prime Minister Douglas said he was pleased that the initiatives for economic, social and political advancement and development of relations between Libya and the Eastern Caribbean were being pursued.