Australia establishes diplomatic post in Kingston

McPherse Thomson, Assistant Editor - Business

The Australian government, in its commitment to strengthen its business and bilateral relations with Jamaica and other countries in the Caribbean, has established a permanent diplomatic mission in Kingston.

Jamaican businesswoman Marjorie Kennedy, a director at Jamaica Freight and Shipping Company Limited, who has extensive experience in the shipping industry, has been appointed Honorary Consul.

A past president of the Jamaica Exporters Association, she also sits on the boards of several companies and philanthropic organisations, including SOS Children's Village.

The honorary consulate, located at Port Bustamante, Kingston 13, brings the number of honorary consulates in the region to six, working under the charge of the Australian High Commission in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, Richard Marles, emphasised that the opening of the consulate was indicative of the strengthening relationship bet-ween Jamaica and his country, given, among other things, the increasing debate on climate change to which both countries, and the region in general, were similarly exposed and the shared interest in reducing its impact.

launched on January 26

In addition, "we are at a point where small island states are playing an increasing role within global affairs," Marles told Sunday Business.

The new consulate was launched on January 26, Australia Day, at a reception in Kingston.

"We are keen to extend the experience that we've had working in the Pacific with other small island nations," said Marles, who was visiting Jamaica on the first leg of a fact-finding tour of the Caribbean.

He was also scheduled to visit Guyana, Grenada, Barbados, St Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Parliamentary Secretary said Australia's commitment to improving and enhancing its relationship with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was made at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad in 2009.

At the core of that relationship is an AUD$60 million (J$5.54 billion) programme of development co-operation being rolled out over four years, he said, adding that almost all of the funds have been programmed.

"In doing this we have listened to our Caribbean partners and focused on areas where Australia has the knowledge and expertise to assist," Marles told members of the diplomatic corps and friends of Australia at the reception.

Part of the funding goes towards a regional development programme which, in Jamaica, is using sport to promote HIV/AIDS education among young people.

It has also contributed to the Youth Upliftment Through Employment programme (YUTE), a collaborative effort with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica through which funding is provided to assist just over 2,000 young people secure work experience, apprenticeships and entrepreneurships.

"Australia is in fact supporting a variety of programmes aimed at improving the lives of every day Jamaicans," said the Parliamentary Secretary.

climate change

However, an area most pressing for the region, and where the potential for shared knowledge is promising, is in the area of climate change, he said.

"Australia faces huge challenges in adapting to climate change itself," said Marles, noting that "many of our closest neighbours are also small and developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change."

Like the Caribbean, he said, the Pacific Islands' contribution to pollution is small but the impact of climate change is, and will continue to be, immense for them.

He said that helping their Pacific partners better prepare and adapt to climate change was one of Australia's development priorities in the Oceania region, "and we would like to share this experience with the Caribbean."

In that regard, in May 2011, Australia helped bring Caribbean and Pacific organisations together for a conference in Samoa to assist co-operation on climate change adaptation and disaster risk management in small-island developing states.

"It's hoped that this will be one of many opportunities for Australia, the Caribbean and the South Pacific to come together on this issue," he said.

Australia has also provided AUD$1.5 million (J$138.7 million) to help build the capacity of the Alliance of Small Island States (OASIS), in recognition of its leadership in making sure the voice of small island developing states is heard "loud and clear." OASIS is a coalition of small-island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar development challenges and concerns about the environment, especially their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change.

In the Caribbean, Australia has committed a total of AUD$17.5 million (J$1.6 billion) to climate change and disaster risk reduction activities, Marles said.

That funding has helped the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency - an inter-regional supportive network of independent emergency units throughout the region - with tsunami public awareness activities and to re-stock its regional warehouse.

According to the Parliamentary Secretary, in developing a strong, long-term engagement with the Caribbean, Australia wants to assist its future leaders with a range of challenges that they will face, "and we believe one of the best ways to do this is to build stronger and more enduring links in education."

To that end, the Australia-Caribbean awards programme will be providing 110 scholarships over four years to students from the Caribbean. Already 65 persons, including eight Jamaican students, have been selected to take up those awards. Applications for the 2013 round of scholarships open this month and Jamaican applicants are being encouraged to apply.

"We've also given a number of Jamaican officials and diplomats the opportunity to go to Australia to further their professional development through targeted short courses," he said.

mcpherse.thompson@ gleanerjm.com