Jamaica, Belgium discuss plans to strengthen relations
JAMAICA’S Foreign Minister A J Nicholson last week discussed the strengthening of bilateral relations with Belgium during talks with officials during an official visit to that country last week.
The foreign ministry, in a release, said a number of areas for cooperation between the countries, including sustainable development, renewable energy, security and port management were discussed in the meeting which involved Belgium’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders; Trade Minister Pieter De Crem and the President of Flanders Geert Bourgeois.
Minister Nicholson was accompanied by permanent secretary Ambassador Paul Robotham and the Ambassador of Jamaica Vilma McNish.
“Minister Nicholson highlighted Belgium’s support for infrastructural development in Jamaica, especially in the transport sector through the supply of buses, the construction of the Half-Way-Tree Transport Centre and the future construction of a centre in Portmore by a Belgian company. He [also] referred to plans to develop a logistics hub to position Jamaica to benefit from the expansion of the Panama Canal and invited the interest of Belgian investors,” the foreign ministry’s release said.
It added that in the meeting with Foreign Minister Reynders, the two discussed the special situation of Small Island Developing States, climate change and regional integration, at which both expressed optimism for a tangible outcome of the Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year with binding commitments on the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Added, the ministry stated: “Cooperation in port management and logistics was among the issues discussed with the president of the Flanders region where the fourth largest port in the world, Antwerp, is located. Jamaicans have benefited from training at the Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre.”
Nicholson also paid a courtesy call on the newly installed Secretary General of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States Dr Patrick Gomes at ACP House. The two exchanged views on the future of the group in the context of the expiry of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement in 2020.
