 The recently convened Organization of Eastern Caribbean States OECS's Assembly is a deliberative forum that brings together members of parliaments and legislatures of member states, both government and opposition, to discuss matters of concern to the OECS region. Nine of the 11 OECS member states participated in the forum. Prime Minister of Grenada and Chairman of the OECS, Dr. The Right Honourable Keith Mitchell was one of the participants who addressed the Assembly. The Chairman of the OECS zoning in on the advancement of regional integration highlighted its significance to the development of the region. Regional integration must remain a central policy, objectives. We have no choice. Together, we are stronger. Given the devastating impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, volcanic activity, climate change, loss of biodiversity, environmental pollution, and degradation, and the attendant socioeconomic consequences, we are not to pursue any better than neighbor policies that may benefit one country while putting others at risk. A wiser course of action would be to consolidate and deepen the regional integration movement as a means of adequately addressing the unrelenting economic, social, and environmental challenges and crises that threaten the advancement of regional development. Dr. Mitchell also noted that the challenges confronting the region do not only affect individual countries but are interconnected with far-reaching consequences throughout the region. Therefore, he asserted the region must go beyond the national boundaries seeking regional solutions that will aid in propelling regional economic growth and development. Crises and emergencies too are often borderless. Hurricanes, volcanoes, sea level rise, core bleaching, these are not constrained by geographic boundaries. Therefore, we have to be more courageous, creative, innovative, inforging, and synergies at all levels. It is imperative, therefore, to connect the dots of the regional integration movement, contrary to the belief of some, adopting our regional approach to development, does that cause a loss of national sovereignty but rather can be an abler of regional resilience, growth, and development. Posing a challenge to the OECS commission, the chairman emphasized that the first towards achieving regional integration must be via an all-inclusive approach. I challenge the OECS commission to not only look at the deepening the integration of regional governmental architecture, but to pursue approaches that deepen the integration movement among the regional private sector, youth, and other non-state actors who are also key stakeholders in the process of development. Division must be a whole of societal approach. We must be creative and fearless in seeking out new opportunities for deepening regional integration, harnessing the power of technology to offer region-wide services, broadening the scope of labor mobility, and making the subregion one marketplace where trading services is seamless across borders and the concept of an OECS citizen will be fully operationalized. The OECS assembly convened for its fifth sitting on June 16, 2021. As the sitting coincided with the 40th anniversary of the organization, members of the assembly reflected on the achievements of the OECS thus far, the benefits of regional cooperation and the regional integration initiatives are still to be realized.