More than 1,000 registered for Diaspora Conference

BROWN… the conference has become the global forum for Jamaicans worldwide to be actively engaged

MORE than 1,000 persons have been registered for the 6th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference scheduled to kick off in Montego Bay, St James tomorrow.

The conference, which will be held under the theme ‘Jamaica and the Diaspora: Linking for Growth and Prosperity’, will begin with pre-forum activities, including the 2nd Jamaica Diaspora Golf Tournament at the Cinnamon Hill Golf Course tomorrow and worship services also tomorrow and Sunday which conference participants have been encouraged to attend. The other activities will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

Jamaicans from as far as Namibia, Belgium and Sudan have already registered for the six-day event, which ends on Thursday with the island-wide roll-out of Diaspora outreach activities. Registrants have also, this time round, come from Colombia and The Bahamas.

The Biennial Jamaica Diaspora conference connects Jamaicans in the Diaspora with the Jamaican Government, industry leaders and other stakeholders keyed into the development agenda of Jamaica and its Diaspora.

“The conference, with an equal emphasis on social development and trade and investment, has indeed become the global forum for Jamaicans worldwide to be actively engaged,” said Arnaldo Brown, state minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Ambassador Sharon Saunders, director of the Diaspora and Consular Affairs Department, said that a special feature of Conference 2015 will be the presentation of the Report Card “which will highlight the implementation of recommendations made at Conference 2013.”

“It will therefore have updates on the Diaspora Mapping Project; the Diaspora Policy and the International Migration and Development Policy,” Saunders added.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the programme has been planned to ensure that the major issues affecting members of the Diaspora and their engagement with Jamaica are covered. In addition to the presentations by Government ministers, business leaders and Diaspora Advisory Board members, there will be a number of panel discussions followed by interactive sessions that will provide opportunities for conference participants to make their contribution while the JAMPRO team-will lead business matchmaking sessions.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/More-than-1-000-registered-for-Diaspora-Conference_19116251

Published Date: June 12th, 2015