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Seven Elected to Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board (JIS)
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Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign
Trade, The Hon. K.D. Knight (center); State Minister Senator
Delano Franklyn (left); and Chief Executive Officer of Grace
Kennedy and Company Limited, Douglas Orane (right) pose with
Delegates appointed to organise the next Diaspora Conference.
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Jamaican Diaspora delegates from the United Kingdom, Canada and
the United States yesterday (June 17) elected seven persons to serve
on the Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board.
The selection came at the end of the two-day conference (June 16-17)
following a resolution to declare the formation of the Board, which
will advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in
between conferences on issues relating to the Diaspora.
Board members include three persons from the United States, two
from Canada and two from the United Kingdom. State Minister in the
Ministry Senator Delano Franklyn explained that Board members would
have continuous access to the Minister and would meet with him at
least once every six months. The Board will come up for review at
each biennial conference.
The conference also signed off in principle on a resolution to encourage
the formation of lobbying groups. The resolution called upon members
of the Jamaican Diaspora and leaders of their organizations to be
in contact with the heads of Jamaican missions/consular posts in
respective jurisdictions to form appropriate lobbying groups for
the purpose of promoting awareness, understanding and support for
Jamaica's interests in the communities in which they reside.
Meanwhile, Diaspora members insisted on a specific purpose for which
funds from a proposed Jamaica Bond Issue would be used, such as
the development of small enterprises in rural areas. Members also
insisted that the bond fund should be managed by a competent professional
team of Jamaicans residing overseas.
The resolution in support of the bond issue pointed out that the
concept of a bond issue targeting overseas nationals of a particular
country was not new and had been successfully used by countries
such as Israel and India.
It took into view the fact that remittances from overseas Jamaicans
had increased over the years reaching US$1.3 billion in 2003; that
overseas Jamaicans had access to capital and credit on an individual
basis in foreign currency; that the approximately two million Jamaicans
living abroad earned an estimated US$40 billion annually; that Jamaicans
abroad possessed a sense of national pride and fervor which would
help in mobilizing low cost funding for the development of Jamaica.
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