| KINGSTON, May 26 (JIS): |
 Minister
of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, K.D Knight has officially announced
that Professor Gordon Shirley has been appointed the new Jamaican
Ambassador to the United States. Professor Shirley will begin his
three-year tour of duty next month.Speaking on regional and bilateral cooperation, during his contribution to the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House on Tuesday (May 25), Mr. Knight said Jamaica continued to enjoy excellent relations with the countries of Central and South America, and remained committed to the further deepening and strengthening of political and economic ties with these countries, including the development of initiatives within the framework of established joint consultative and cooperative mechanisms. “At the bilateral level, our dynamic cooperation programmes with our traditional North American partners have continued to make a positive impact on a number of our priority needs in critical areas of national development including health, education, business development, security, public sector modernization and capacity development,” he stated, noting that these relations were firmly based on mutual respect, shared values and principles, and strong political, economic and trade linkages. Mr. Knight said relations with non-CARICOM neighbours in the region continued to be characterized by mutual respect and friendship. New initiatives were currently being explored towards the deepening of cooperation, transcending language barriers, to mutual benefit, he informed. Later this year, he will lead a trade mission to Cuba. Meanwhile, he pointed out that the European Union (EU) was the largest provider of grant resources to Jamaica, and had been one of the island’s most consistent development partners. Through its development fund, the European Development Fund (EDF), Jamaica became eligible for an allocation of 100 million Euros for poverty alleviation and infrastructural development for the period 2002- 2007. This is to be utilized broadly for two categories: 73 million Euros to cover macroeconomic support, road transport development and the private sector; and 27 million Euros to cover unforeseen needs such as emergency assistance, international debt relief, and the adverse effects of instability in export earning. As the ten new countries of the EU countries acceded to full membership, Mr. Knight said, “We must recognize that they and the Union will have to make internal adjustments. This will no doubt affect our relations with the Union itself and with its individual members. We in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) must see the enlargement of the EU as an enlargement of the marketplace and take advantage of the opportunities.” In addition, ties with the Kingdom of Belgium were further strengthened through the official visit of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in November last year, he said. One proposal arising out of the visit is for the reopening of the Belgian Embassy in Kingston by September 2004. The Belgian Government has also committed to assisting Jamaica further in the transport sector with the erection of a transport hub in Half-Way-Tree. Negotiations concerning the financing of the project are already under way, Mr. Knight divulged. Additionally, Belgium has also offered to provide vital training in trade negotiations. Minister Knight said Jamaica was looking forward to the further strengthening of these relations at the multilateral level with participation in the Third EU/Latin America and Caribbean Summit (EU/LAC) in Mexico later this month. Aimed at strengthening relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, the Summit will focus on political, economic and development cooperation issues that concur with Jamaica’s development agenda. Turning to Africa, the Foreign Affairs Minister said relations with South Africa, a leading African member state of the Commonwealth and founder and leading advocate of the African Union (AU), were considerably strengthened through the state visit of South African President Thabo Mbeki in July last year. “Jamaica and South Africa enjoy an increasingly close partnership and cooperate in multilateral fora such as the Commonwealth and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), on a wide range of issues,” he remarked, adding that the continent was well on its way to the achievement of a “magnificent African Renaissance”. Jamaica’s traditionally close and productive relations with Nigeria continued to be strengthened through the Nigeria Technical Aid Corps (TAC) Programme which was reactivated in 2002. There are currently four TAC Volunteers in Jamaica deployed at the Mico Teachers’ College and the Surveys and Mapping Division. The Ministry of Health is in the process of reviewing 163 TAC volunteers to help fill 176 vacancies in the health sector. Under the recently renewed contract between the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, since last September, Jamaica has received four shipments of oil from Nigeria, Mr. Knight informed. The island has also extended its diplomatic reach into Africa and the Middle East with the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Republic of Mali in December 2003 and the State of Qatar in June 2003. Minister Knight said Cabinet had authorized the establishment of a Jamaican Embassy in Beijing, primarily for the purpose of increasing trade and investment. He said collaborative efforts were taking place between his ministry, the Ministry of Transport and Works and the Port Authority of Jamaica to have the embassy operational before the end of the current financial year. Meanwhile, the Minister said trade between Jamaica and Japan had expanded significantly in recent years, and relations strengthened as a result of the wide range of activities between the two countries. “The Japanese Government has been consistent in its commitment to Jamaica’s development, through assistance in areas as diverse as vocational training, medical care, language training, fire fighting, education and security,” he stated. Relations with other countries of the Asian region, particularly India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Republic of Korea have also been developing satisfactorily, Mr. Knight informed, “particularly at the political and economic levels, and we have a large number of projects for knowledge transfer, technological advancement and infrastructural development”. |
