KINGSTON. Jamaica - ARE governments in the Caribbean killing the goose that lays the golden egg? This question relates to the number of taxes that governments are applying to the tourism industry and, particularly, to the cost of aeroplane tickets for flights originating in their countries.
KINGSTON. Jamaica - In 2020 the Cotonou Convention will expire. Then the trade, aid and development mechanism that links 79 nations in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (the ACP) to Europe may well come to an end without any successor agreement being put in pace.
How this has come about says as much about the way in which the world has changed since the convention was agreed in 2000 as it does about thinking that seeks to keep in place a special arrangement that linked Europe to its former colonies, without recognising the need to demonstrate value and achievement.
KINGSTON. Jamaica - This Tuesday, Jamaica gets what we believe may be a last chance to make up our minds whether we cut the umbilical cord between us and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and strike out alone on an uncertain future outside of the regional bloc.
Foreign Minister Arnold J Nicholson, very correctly in our view, has invited some of the best brains and leadership in Jamaica to engage with him on discussing how to move forward in our engagement with CARICOM. We wholeheartedly endorse this act of wisdom typical of the minister.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Christopher Tufton, the shadow foreign affairs and foreign trade minister, doesn't seem to get it. So, he is shopping around for more bureaucracy - a mechanism, he says, for public-private sector consultation on trade disputes with Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica's Caribbean Community (CARICOM) partners, with whom we have a trade deficit of nearly US$1 billion.
WASHINGTON, CMC, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has added three Caribbean paintings to its art collection. The Washington-based financial institution said the Caribbean Country Department (CCB) granted funds to the IDB’s Art Collection for paintings to highlight Caribbean talent. A painting dedication ceremony was held on Wednesday at the IDB headquarters at which “Mimosa pudica” by Bahamian Joscelyn Gardner, and “A New Day” by Rash Ishi Butcher and “Personal Language” by Omar Richardson, both of Barbados, were inaugurated.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Colombia will provide assistance to Barbados as the island seeks to develop the technical skills of artisans and designers. A delegation from the South-South Cooperation Department of the Ministry of External Relations of Colombia and the Artesanias de Colombia Corporation has arrived here on a three-day visit and according to an official statement, will be “conducting a diagnostic mission which will involve discussions and training sessions with the staff of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) and stakeholders.
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has announced plans for the establishment of a National Museum of the Jamaican People. Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna said the museum will be created as part of the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ).
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Today could very well be D-Day for Integrity Commission chairman Ken Gordon. Will President Anthony Carmona ask Gordon to resign or will he revoke his appointment? Or, will Gordon resign on his own volition? The future of the embattled commission chairman remains uncertain as controversy continues to rage over his secret meeting with Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday police investigators have contacted her via letter requesting the “make and type” of her electronic devices. This letter, she said, was promptly handed over to her legal adviser, Israel Khan, SC. “For myself I am not au courant with that kind of lingo, the technology lingo, so I have asked my lawyer to assist me with responding to the information requested,” she said.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – An assessment team from the World Bank said Antigua & Barbuda is poised to become the regional leader in Open Data, but that government will have to lead the way.
“This really is an all of government effort and so it requires political backing from an overall champion leader for the Open Data initiative,” said Anat Lewin, World Bank operations officer.
In late April, the Ministry of Telecommunications hosted a team from the World Bank and the Caribbean Open Institute, which assessed the nation’s Open Data readiness.