• Governor - Frits GOEDGEDRAG
• Prime Minister -  Emily DE JONGH-ELHAGE
• Dep. Prime Minister -  
• Min. of Constitutional & Interior Affairs - Richard GIBSON
• Min. of Economic Affairs & Labor -
• Min. of Education & Cultural Affairs - Maritza SILBERIE
• Min. of Finance - Ersilia DE LANNOOY
• Min. of General Affairs & Foreign Relations - Emily DE JONGH-ELHAGE
• Min. of Health & Social Affairs - Joan THEODORA-BREWSTER, Dr.
• Min. of Justice - Norberto RIBEIRO
• Min. of Telecommunications & Transportation - Omayra LEEFLANG
• Min. Plenipotentiary to The Hague, Dir., Bank of the Nertherlands Antilles - Emsley TROMP

Public Holidays:

• Kingdom of the Netherlands.  - Netherlands Antilles: 2008 Article IV Consultation— Staff Report.

The promise of fiscal discipline and debt relief, under the agreement to dissolve the Netherlands Antilles, has boosted investor confidence and growth. Implementation of the dissolution agreement has begun, although the actual constitutional changes are now scheduled for January 2010.
The new fiscal framework (a balanced budget, debt limits and supervision) is already in place in the BES islands (Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba) and due to start in 2009 in Curaçao and St. Maarten.
The authorities are pushing ahead with welcome reform proposals to improve: tax policy, labor markets, public enterprise finances, pensions and healthcare. source: IMF

• Open regionalization, free trade and developments in the Caribbean

by Dr. Rubén Arturo Silié Valdez, Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). 2005

The issue of open regionalization was discussed, this means that the Netherlands Antilles has the possibility to enter into commercial agreements with more than one economic bloc. The concept of open regionalization receives its validity based on the fact that it is possible, necessary and convenient to form regional agreements, which are more inclusive than exclusive, and which are inclined to soften commercial restrictions instead of enforcing them with respect to foreign countries. So the concept is inclined to raise the question of what we could mean to others instead of looking for ways to exclude others.
source: Government of the Netherlands Antilles

• U.S. Trade Policy for the Caribben (Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act)

by Lawrence J. Gumbiner, 2005
Promotion of freer trade is a principal element of overall U.S. foreign policy. This goal has a long history within the United States. It was a key element of U.S. policy for rebuilding the world economy after World War II,
and has been a part of every Administration’s strategy since then, Democratic and Republican.
source: Government of the Netherlands Antilles

• Patterns of Trade and Trade Relations in the Greater Caribbean and their Implications for the Netherlands Antilles.

Dr. Norman Girvan.  June 2004
The Netherlands Antilles as a geographic part of the Caribbean sees the necessity of being involved in regional trade. What is the present situation and future prospects of trade and trade policy in the Greater Caribbean? What is the vision for the Netherlands Antilles with respect to trade in the Greater Caribbean?
source: Government of the Netherlands Antilles

• Population Statistics for the Netherlands Antilles
• Results Labour Force Survey Saint Maarten 2009
  In June 2009, the employed population in St. Maarten increased by more than 650 persons, compared to March 2007. This is an increase of just over 3 percent. This increase can solely be attributed to the increase in the number of employed women. The male employed population decreased slightly. Also the increase concerned only persons born in Sint Maarten. The number of unemployed persons increased with 21 percent. Because of this increase the unemployment rate went up from 10.6 percent in March 2007 to 12.2 percent in June 2009.
  
  As a consequence of the increase in both the number of employed and in the number of unemployed, the number of persons in the labor force went up with 5 percent and the labor force now has a total of 24344 persons. The participation rate remained practically unchanged compared to 2007. The youth unemployment rate increased to 29.4 percent of the youth labor force, mainly due to a large increase in the number of unemployed youth.

• Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Caribbean.
  March 2007
  The drug trade is a prime driver of crime across the Caribbean. In the Netherlands Antilles, authorities estimate that 75 percent of crime is drug-related. Some 60 percent of all the cocaine seized in the Caribbean in 2004 was seized in the Netherlands Antilles, and cocaine seizures there increased dramatically between 2001 and 2004. Confronted with large numbers of people attempting to smuggle drugs by commercial flights, authorities implemented a “100% Control” policy of screening large numbers of passengers for drugs. Drugs were confiscated from the couriers, but in most cases the couriers themselves were not arrested. The program has been very successful in reducing cocaine smuggling via air courier, and could be tested in other contexts, including other Caribbean countries suffering from drug transshipment. The Antillean example also highlights the need for cooperation between Caribbean transshipment countries and destination countries in maritime interdiction.
  Source: UNODC & The World Bank

Solid Waste Management

Selected statistics indicators for NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
UN Statistics Division for NETHERLANDS ANTILLES
Caribbean Social Statistics Database
Caribbean Trade Statistical Database

Commentary: Netherlands Antilles' break up continues as its geopolitical importance mounts
Thursday, April 9, 2009.  By Alex Sanchez
The upcoming May 15 referendum in Curaçao is sure to have important repercussions for the political future of the Netherlands Antilles, a group of islands located in the southern Caribbean, which make up part of the Kingdom of Holland. One of the last remnants of overseas colonial territories in the Caribbean, the population of each island making up the Netherlands Antilles has divergent perspectives regarding what future ties their home-islands should maintain vis-à-vis Holland: autonomy within the Kingdom, or maintaining the status quo.