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| Ambassador Albert Ramdin |
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, OCTOBER 3RD 2005 Assistant Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) Ambassador Albert Ramdin is to address the opening session of the 5th Caribbean Week of Agriculture at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort on Wednesday.
It will be Ambassador Ramdin's first visit to St. Kitts and Nevis since his election as OAS Assistant Secretary General in June this year.
The Surinamese diplomat, who took office in July, will pay courtesy calls on St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, shortly after his arrival on Tuesday afternoon.
Ambassador Ramdin, who has had a distinguished career in public service at the national and international level, most recently as Ambassador at Large and Special Adviser to the Government of the Republic of Suriname on Western Hemispheric Affairs, is also expected to meet with the local Press Corps.
Two nationals of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis are advisors to the Assistant Secretary General in Washington, D.C. They are Kittitian, Mr. Kevin Isaac and Nevisian Ms. Sherry Tross. Ms. Tross will accompany Ambassador Ramdin on this visit.
In Suriname, Ramdin served as Senior Adviser to the Minister of Trade and Industry, where he was intensively involved in restructuring the ministry and implementing an industrial development program. In the mid-1990s, he worked for two years in the private sector before returning to public service when he was appointed Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance.
In 1997, Ramdin became his country's Permanent Representative to the OAS, and two years later, he was also appointed to serve concurrently as Suriname's non-resident Ambassador to Costa Rica. As Ambassador to the OAS, Ramdin chaired the Permanent Council (January-March 1998) and the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (1999), and coordinated the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassadors Caucus during his country's chairmanship of the subregional group. Ramdin also represented his country in the preparatory meetings for the Second Summit of the Americas and in negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
In 1999, he joined the CARICOM Secretariat as Assistant Secretary-General for Foreign and Community Relations, where he was responsible for coordinating CARICOM's foreign policy and strengthening relations among its member states. He played a leading role in increasing cooperation with the Central American Integration System and the Andean Community. Ramdin coordinated CARICOM's technical preparations for the Third Summit of the Americas and was instrumental in ensuring that key issues were included in the Summit's Declaration and Plan of Action.
In 2001, Ramdin was appointed Adviser to the OAS Secretary General, with special attention to the Caribbean. He continued his close engagement with the situation in Haiti, dealt with issues of priority for small states, monitored the hemispheric trade agenda and briefed the General Secretariat on Caribbean concerns. Ambassador Ramdin also represented the Secretary General on the OAS Gender Mainstreaming Committee.
Born in Suriname on February 27, 1958, Ramdin received his education in Paramaribo and in The Netherlands, at the University of Amsterdam and the Free University, where he studied geography of developing countries with a specialization in social and economic problems of smaller economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. Ramdin is married to Charmaine Baksh, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, and they have two children, Kareana Amy and Anu Xsitaaz.
