PM Simpson Miller Leads Jamaica’s Team to US-Caribbean Energy Summit

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller will next week lead Jamaica’s team to Washington D.C. in the United States for a Clean Energy Security Summit of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders and Vice President of the United States Hon. Joseph R. Biden. Prime Minister Simpson Miller will also attend the Third Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in San José, Costa Rica. The Prime Minister will return to Jamaica on Thursday, January 29. During the Prime Minister’s working travel overseas, Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Robert Pickersgill will be in charge of the Government.

On Saturday, January 24, Prime Minister Simpson Miller will travel to Washington D.C. for the Clean Energy Summit which takes place at the U.S. Department of State on January 25 and 26 and will also include representatives of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). The Summit, which will also be attended by Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, is a follow up on the US Vice President’s May 2013 meeting with Caribbean leaders in Trinidad and Tobago, where the leaders agreed to work to promote energy security in the region.

It is expected that the discussions will lead to cooperation to address the energy challenges facing the region, identify ways to increase investment in energy initiatives and promote the development and use of renewable energy.

The anticipated outcomes of the Clean Energy Conference include a shared commitment to pursuing energy reforms, increased information sharing among countries, and improved effectiveness of donor coordination on energy-related assistance to Caribbean countries.

During the period January 28 to 29, Prime Minister Simpson Miller will attend the CELAC Summit which will be chaired by His Excellency Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera, President of the Republic of Costa Rica. Other members of Jamaica’s delegation to the meeting include: Senator the Honourable Arnold J. Nicholson, QC, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Ms. Onika Miller, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister; and Ambassador Joy Wheeler, Under Secretary, Bilateral and Regional Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

CELAC is an important cooperation mechanism comprising all 33 States of Latin America and the Caribbean. It provides a useful forum for discussion on issues of priority to Jamaica such as cooperation in transportation, energy, trade, security, environment and climate change. CELAC also represents a market of 600 million people or approximately nine percent of the global population and a GDP of US$5.6 trillion in 2012, thereby offering much scope for Jamaica to enhance and diversify opportunities in trade, investment and tourism.

Jamaica’s participation in the Summit at the highest level will also provide an opportunity for Prime Minister Simpson Miller to engage in bilateral discussions with other Heads of Government on matters of mutual interest.

The CELAC Summit is expected to explore issues such as sustainable development; poverty eradication; economic growth and the development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship; climate change; gender equality and equity; migration; information and communication technologies (ICT); and the fight against organised crime. The Agenda issues also address coordination with extra-regional partners such as China, India, Russia, the European Union (EU) and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

China hosted the First Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing, from 8th – 9th January 2015.