Ambassador to the United States, Professor Gordon Shirley, will meet with more than 200 Jamaican students attending colleges and universities in Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia on Saturday, at a special reception slated for the Organization of American States' Museum of the Americas in the American capital.

The reception, hosted jointly by the Jamaican Embassy and the Jamaica National Associa-tion, is part of efforts to strengthen ties with Jamaican students in the U.S.

According to Professor Shirley, the greater Washing-ton D.C. area has a reasonably high concentration of Jamaican students who are an important asset to the Jamaican economy. He noted that, whether they return home to work or remain in the U.S., they represent an intellectual resource which could be quite helpful to the Jamaican economy.

The reception, the ambassador said, would give the students an opportunity to air their views and concerns.

Maureen Wallace, President of the Jamaica National Association, will also address the students.