Caribbean nationals in US engage region’s heads

WASHINGTON – Besides the critical meetings between CARICOM leaders and President of the United States George W. Bush on Wednesday and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on Tuesday, the Conference on the Caribbean held in Washington D.C. managed to bring together an impressive group of policy makers, technocrats, academics and business people from the United States and the Caribbean.{{more}}

From Tuesday to Thursday this week experts, the private sector and Caribbean people living in the diaspora met simultaneously at three different venues to chart the way forward for the Caribbean under the theme “Conference on the Caribbean – A 20/20 Vision”.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Diaspora Forum opened to a packed Hall of the Americas at the Organization of American States. An estimated 500 Caribbean nationals living in the United States were able to engage Caribbean leaders including Prime Ministers Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica, Ralph Gonsalves, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Owen Arthur, Barbados, Stephenson King, St. Lucia and Denzil Douglas, St. Kitts and Nevis, Keith Mitchell, Grenada and Patrick Manning, Trinidad and Tobago in a lively debate on the “Challenges and Opportunities for the Caribbean-US Diaspora.”

The Experts Forum, which was held at the Preston Auditorium of the World Bank, included speakers from University of the West Indies (UWI), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the World Economic Forum, CARICOM, the World Bank, the Caribbean Congress of Labour, The East Caribbean Central Bank, Stanford University and the Pan American Health Organization who explored topics including International Competitiveness of Caribbean Countries, Energy for Competitiveness, Quality and Equity in Social Development, Health and Gender and the Physical Infrastructure for the Caribbean Community’s Growth and Global Competitiveness.

Meeting at the Enrique V. Iglesias Conference Centre of the Inter-American Development Bank, the Private Sector Dialogue explored Opportunities for Growth for US-Caribbean Trade, Trade Development for Cultural Industries, New Directions for Tourism (Health & Wellness), Financial Services and Agriculture and Manufacturing. The main speakers there were drawn from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, the IDB, the United States Government, CARICOM, the UWI, the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Credit Suisse, the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture, the University of Guyana, and Grace Foods. Anthony “The Mighty Gabby” Carter and Dwight Peters of the Saint International Modelling Agency were also panelists.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines is represented at the Conference by Dr. The Hon. Ralph E. Gonsalves, Prime Minister, Sir Louis Straker, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Ellsworth John, SVG Ambassador to the OAS, H.E. Margaret Ferrari, SVG Ambassador to the UN, Cosmus Cozier, Consul General, Consulate of SVG in New York, Frank Clarke, of the Washington Mission, La Celia Prince, Minister Counselor in the Washington Mission, Clarence Harry, Trade Officer II, Burns Bonadie, Trade Union Representative, Altocha Anderson, CARICOM Youth Ambassador for SVG and Nadine Agard, Representative from the National Investments Promotions Incorporated. (CK)