KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Senator Anthony Hylton said on Thursday, June 15, that the Ministry was committed to working with members of the Jamaican Diaspora, to improve economic and social relations with foreign nationals.
Addressing more than 500 members of the island’s Diaspora community at the Second Jamaican Diaspora Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown, Kingston, Senator Hylton said the Ministry would be collaborating with Jamaicans overseas, and in this regard, “our Missions and Consulates have a major co-coordinating role to play”.
He also pointed out that the Ministry was encouraging the fostering of relationships with Jamaicans in the Diaspora, as they served “as markets, as sources of investment, and more so, as sources of knowledge and information in a world being driven by knowledge and information”.
Senator Hylton said “the Ministry would also remain sensitive to the concerns of Jamaicans in the Diaspora, especially concerns deriving from racial prejudices and changed attitudes toward immigrants”.
On occasions where prejudices or changed attitudes might surface, the Minister said Jamaican authorities would “continue to use its diplomatic images wherever possible, to ensure that Jamaicans and the other Caribbean nationals in the diaspora are not disadvantaged”.
Furthermore, he added, the Foreign Ministry would be encouraging the use of Jamaicans residing abroad, whenever the government or private sector required external expertise.
“This Ministry’s pledge is to continue to serve you and to work with you creatively. We look forward to hearing your ideas and specific proposals; how we can best serve you as we go forward together,” he told the participants.
The second two-day Jamaican Diaspora Conference, which is being held under the same theme as the first in June last year, ‘Unleashing the Potential’.
Delegates attending the conference came from such countries as the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, Africa and Central America.
