Washington, DC – Celebrations commemorating the 10th anniversary of Caribbean American Heritage Month have been taking place in several cities across the United States since the beginning of June and this week (June 21st) the focus turns to the nation’s capital for the national celebration which includes a briefing on Caribbean/US relations at the White House on Wednesday followed by a reception hosted by the Administration of President Barack Obama.
The week’s activities will also feature a Diaspora in Development Forum Wednesday morning hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and a Legislative Forum on Capitol Hill Thursday, which will address foreign policy and domestic issues that impact America’s relations with the Caribbean region as well as the life of Caribbean nationals in the Diaspora.
Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment & Commerce
Jamaica’s Minister of Trade and Industry the Honorable Anthony Hylton will be among the featured speakers at the formal opening of both the Diaspora in Development Forum and the Legislative Forum. Among the other featured speakers are a number of Members of the US Congress, the US Administration, regional and international agencies including the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)and Organization of American States (OAS) along with representatives of the Caribbean American business, civic and religious communities.
Co-Chair of the 10th anniversary celebrations planning committee, former Guyanese diplomat Wesley Kirton says that the 10th anniversary celebrations take on added importance not merely because of the special landmark, but also because it follows on the heels of President Obama’s visit to Jamaica, his meeting with CARICOM Heads-of-Government and then the Summit of the Americas held in Panama.
“There are several key issues including trade, investment, energy, security among others which were discussed at those meetings and on which there is to be follow up action. These discussions will provide an opportunity to be updated on developments on these initiatives which include an educational exchange program between young people from the US and the Caribbean and Latin America,” Kirton said.
He explained that the discussions will focus on issues such as the barriers to imports into the US of certain products from the Caribbean and a strategy for promoting in the US investment opportunities in the region. Security issues regarding ensuring the integrity of shipments via both air and sea to and from the US will also be discussed as will be cyber security and immigration.
Kirton said the Diaspora in Development forum will place special emphasis on linking the efforts of small projects in the region with organizations and institutions in the US that could offer collaborative support to strengthen these through technical, financial and marketing support.
On the local level, discussions will focus on identifying ways of strengthening the relationship between law enforcement agencies and Caribbean American communities in addition to job creation for Caribbean American youth.
The week of activities wrap up on Friday afternoon at the Organization of American States (OAS) with a forum on Caribbean/US relations in a post embargo Cuba which will involve key experts on this subject. OAS Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Albert Ramdin will open this forum following which there will be the closing reception on the Aztec Patio of the OAS.
Kirton thanked the Caribbean American private sector including SeaFreight Agencies, El Dorado Rums of Guyana, Tower Isle Patties, Crown Bakery and Royal Caribbean Bakery for their sponsorship of the week’s activities.
ADVERTISEMENT
