Prime Minister Holness Invited to Meeting with US Vice President Pence

Prime Minister Holness Invited to Meeting with US Vice President Pence

Following, Jamaica‘s participation in the United Nations General Assembly last week and leading role at the UN Climate Change Summit in New York, Prime Minister Holness was invited to meet with Vice President Pence in Washington. The meeting took place, earlier this week, on Monday, September 30, 2019 at the White House. The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Minister of Finance, Honourable Nigel Clarke MP, Chief of Defence Staff, Lt. Gen. Rocky Meade, Jamaican Ambassadors to the USA Audrey Marks, and Parliamentary Secretary Senator Robert Morgan. Newly appointed US ambassador to Jamaica, Donald Tapia was also present. The meeting was held to explore ways to strengthen and deepen the bilateral relations between the US and Jamaica, focusing on resilience building for climate disasters, increasing trade and investment, energy security, and national security. Prime Holness was very pleased with the meeting and said: “Jamaica US relations have all been strong on a people level, and the US has always been an important partner in Jamaica economic and social development. With our successful completion of the IMF programme the country must now focus on increasing trade and investment, technology transfer, and building resilience. The United States is our largest trading partner. They are the largest economy and they are right on our doorstep. Already, there are several programmes and recent initiatives between Jamaica and the US, however we believe much more can be done leverage this relationship to support Jamaica’s growth and development.”