Diplomatic Week fruitful!!
…Support for Post Sugar and Nevis Geothermal Energy Projects
By Stanford Conway
Editor-in-Chief- SKNVibes.com
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| Members of the head table at the Press Conference held at OTI last Thursday: (L-R) High Commissioner to Jamaica and Ambassador to Cuba Cedric Harper, Permanent Delegate of St. Kitts and Nevis to UNESCO Dr. David Doyle, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Timothy Harris, St. Kitts and Nevis Honorary Consul to Costa Rica Jonathan Curshen and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Permanent Representative to the UN Delano Bart. |
BASSETTERRE, St. Kitts – DIPLOMATIC Week 2008 concluded last week Thursday with a high degree of success and offers of assistance were made to St. Kitts and Nevis by its bilateral and multilateral partners.
The event, which is in its second consecutive year and initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, started with a Church Service on Sunday, February 17 at the Estridge Moravian Church in Mansion Village and ended with a Retreat involving the extended and support staff [particularly Ambassadors and Honorary Consuls] of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
One of the major highlights of Diplomatic Week 2008 was the Public Lecture by four-term former Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J. Patterson, who lectured and answered questions on “Building Partnerships for Mutual Advantage: An Imperative for Small Island States”.
The former Prime Minister expounded on the realities facing Small Island States (SIS). According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Timothy Harris, “I thought it was an excellent presentation.
It answered the many questions, which some in our own national community have asked as others in other parts of the Caribbean have asked”.
“Why are we involved in international affairs…what is in it for us? And he answered simply, ‘We needed to be engaged for our own survival!’ And in that context, he covered a range of issues…our relationship with the USA, Canada and the rest of the world; issues that are of importance to us and how he thinks we ought to be navigating the turbulent seas which are about us,” Dr. Harris said.
The event, which realised a very significant increase in numbers, was graced with the presence of representatives from many counties, including first-timers Germany, the Republic of Russia, Morocco and Algiers.
Speaking to the press at the Ocean Terrace Inn last Thursday, Dr. Harris said, “We had a very packed week, which in my mind went
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| Four-term former Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J. Patterson (centre) during his lecture on “Building Partnerships for Mutual Advantage: An Imperative for Small Island States” at the Sir Cecil Jacobs Auditorium, ECCB |
very successfully. I would say it was a resoundingly successful week, judged by any criteria.
We had a larger number of countries participating this year than had occurred last year. That is an indication of the widely in-reach of our diplomatic and international engagement at this particular moment and time.”
He informed that Dr. David Doyle, Permanent Delegate of St. Kitts and Nevis to UNESCO, had announced that he was able to secure financial assistance to the tune of €200 000 from the French government for support to the Air and Sea Port Authority “for some of the issues they require support”.
Dr. Harris also declared that through the efforts of Delano Bart, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Permanent Representative to the UN, a significant contribution was made by the government of Turkey in relation to the Day Care Centre, nearing completion, in the Tabernacle community.
He also informed that explicit offers for training and human capacity development were offered by a number of countries and “we have to explore and make these available to the public”.
Addressing post sugar initiatives, Dr. Harris said some €3M would be released to St. Kitts and Nevis from the European Union (EU) by the middle of this year for both long and short terms post sugar projects.
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| A section of the audience at the Public Lecture by former Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J. Patterson |
He said the Ministry of Sustainable Development, which has responsibility for the availability and distribution of land for the socio-economic development of the Federation’s post sugar projects, would also be responsible for coordinating the EU’s financial assistance.
The Foreign Affairs Minister informed, too, that discussions on areas of bilateral cooperation were had with Morocco and Algeria.
“Discussions were also had with Russian Ambassador regarding to engaging in a more serious way at the bilateral level in some areas of mutual interests. We have also had discussions with Germany regarding assistance in alternative energy and in other areas of engagement,” Dr. Harris said.
Dr. Harris declared that there had been some specifics in the offer of assistance and his ministry would be following up on a number of them “after this week, in terms of greater specificity in terms of these engagements”.
He noted that interesting discussions were also had over the matter of support for geothermal energy in Nevis and “I believe, as a result of the inputs we have had over the last couple of days, there is going to be increase in attention by multilateral institutions and interested partners in other countries to have a further look at what is happening in Nevis and to see where strategic partnership may eventuate”.
~~Adz:Right~~ Dr. Harris said unlike fora at the UN where 192 members compete for attention and recognition, Diplomatic Week 2008 provided the Federation exclusive attention to be heard by countries that want to engage in business.
The Foreign Affairs Minister noted that this year’s event included, for the first time, a presentation by the Premier of Nevis and a much more expansive engagement by the private sector with the Diplomatic and Consular Corps.
Diplomatic Week 2008 was held under the theme “Maximising Benefits from International Relations: Building Partnerships for Mutual Advantage”.
