16-10-2007 Antigua and the US to meet in Geneva on Thursday

Dr. Errol Cort, Antigua's Minister of Finance, told the Sun that he is waiting on the outcome of Thursday's hearing at the WTO before confirming an appointment with the United States Trades Representative’s office to discuss the issue of reasonable compensation.

Earlier last week, Dr. Cort defended the island’s $3.4 billion claim against the United States as fair compensation.

"There have been statements made, how can you claim $3.4 billion when that is even larger than the size of your economy as measured by the gross domestic product? But the reality of the matter is that our GDP figures do not really capture the input to the economy of the gaming sector because the gaming and the offshore sector, those figures are not computed in our GDP," Dr. Cort told the Antigua Sun.

"Therefore, just to make the argument looking at your GDP versus your actual claim and saying your claim is out of whack, is not a sustainable argument," he added.