An economic diplomacy program in Jamaica, jointly developed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) to better engage with the country’s international partners on trade and investment matters, will be officially launched this month.
Sen. Kamina Johnson Smith, the portfolio minister, made the disclosure while addressing members of the diplomatic corps on Tuesday, March 3 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
She explained that the program aims to improve alignment between the work undertaken by the Foreign Service in the execution of foreign policy and the strategic priorities established by the government to drive development.
Johnson Smith said that the emphasis on economic diplomacy “will require a more strategic, focused and collaborative approach, to ensure that Jamaica’s diplomatic assets and programs are better leveraged to facilitate access to foreign markets for national businesses and to promote foreign direct investment.”
“It is important that we achieve more tangible results, particularly in these two areas that are critical to our economic growth and development agenda,” she pointed out.
She noted that as part of the objective, the government is taking a fresh look at its honorary consular network worldwide, in an effort to strengthen and expand the Ministry’s representation, promote Brand Jamaica, and seek trade and investment opportunities from targeted locations around the globe.
“We will continue, therefore, to review locations where there may be a need to strengthen existing capacity or to add new representation,” she said. “We now have a network of 90 honorary consuls across all continents.”
