GRAND CAYMAN – Immigration, trade, education and security will be the key focus areas at the upcoming Northern Caribbean Conference on Economic Development and Co-operation to be hosted by the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) and the National Building Society of Cayman (NBSC) on December 17.
The one-day event, which will be held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Grand Cayman, is expected to be attended by heads of government from seven Northern Caribbean countries, namely—the Bahamas, Cuba, the Cayman Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
The conference will include presentations from Cayman’s Premier McKeeva Bush; the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Hon. Bruce Golding; and CARICOM Special Representative on Haiti, the Most Hon. P.J. Patterson. It will also be addressed by representatives from American, Canadian and British development agencies; as well as entrepreneurs and members of academia.
Earl Jarrett, General Manager of Jamaica National Building Society and Director of the National Building Society of Cayman, said that the conference is being hosted as part of efforts to encourage closer regional collaboration and augment economic development among the participating countries.
“One of the expected outcomes of this dialogue among regional political leaders, researchers and entrepreneurs will be the expansion of regional economies and creation of jobs for Caribbean nationals,” Mr. Jarrett said. “We also hope to foster greater understanding among business leaders in these countries, and in so doing, encourage closer collaboration in relation to the key focus areas which are critical to our economic development.”
He said that business leaders, government ministers with mandates for foreign trade, education and security; members of academia, research and non-governmental organisations involved in education are being invited to participate in the discourse, which will impact Northern Caribbean countries.
The Jamaica National, through its remittance subsidiary JN Money Services (JNMS) operators of JN Money Transfer; and the National Building Society of Cayman recently acquired the Sun Money and QuikCash brands, which are the remittance market leaders in the Cayman Islands.
“In undertaking the expansion of our business in the region, we recognise the need for closer collaboration among governments and business leaders; and, call for greater effort to leverage the strengths of each country to benefit all the peoples in the region,” Mr. Jarrett stated.
