The Foreign Affairs Consultative Committee Holds Its Inaugural Meeting
~~Adz:Right~~The Foreign Affairs Consultative Committee convened its inaugural meeting on Thursday 27 March 2008, at the Board Room of The St Kitts and Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Fortlands, Basseterre. The purpose of the committee is to advise the Foreign Minister on a range of matters that will assist him with formulating, developing and articulating a coherent and well informed foreign policy which will guide our diplomatic initiatives and actions.
The meeting brought together a group of persons with knowledge and experience in areas such as International Business, The Practice of Diplomacy, International Trade, Regional integration, security and development. Its establishment takes into account the recognition that the geopolitical sphere is vast and complex, and that issues engaging the international community are as numerous as complex.
The Minister, Dr the Honourable Timothy Harris, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs was especially grateful to everyone who had agreed to serve and to those who had made the very special effort to attend. He also expressed special thanks to The Chamber for the use of its facility and commented on the significance of this given that one of the many undertakings of the committee will be that of developing and maintaining close contacts with The Chamber and other private sector representatives in developing, as a particularity, the trade aspect of our foreign policy.
The meeting proved to be a highly dynamic and engaging exercise, with everyone expressing the view that this bodes well for its future functioning. Several matters were the subject of preliminary discussion and are to be researched for fuller examination in future meetings. These are, strengthening relations with Africa, Kosovo’s Independence, ongoing developments in Cuba and implications for St Kitts and Nevis, current trends in the global economy and market place, the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and the ACP countries, and the implications of such developments for St Kitts and Nevis as well as for our regional partners.
Consideration was also given to proposals for the functioning, procedures and future meetings of the committee including attendance of Officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to as many meetings as possible so that they might benefit from the discussions and experience of the members. Furthermore, members concurred that other ministries and departments, as well as non-governmental organizations should be invited to attend and make presentations to the committee on matters relevant to their spheres.
The Ministry intends to keep the public informed on the progress of the work of this very important body.
