United States: Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness shared a glimpse of his meetings with different delegations of the United States as he is on an official visit to the country. On Thursday, March 31, 2022, he firstly met with the Secretary of the United States Treasury, Janet Yellen.
He is also accompanied by his government’s delegation.
Outlining the topics of discussions, PM Holness stated that he had meaningful discussions with a view to partnering with Jamaica to achieve the ambitions in the areas of energy resilience, including renewables, human capacity development including education and training, nearshore digital technology hub, digitization, and national security.
While stressing various areas of concern, PM Holness noted, “Our proposals for cooperation were well received and the Treasury Secretary expressed support for the financial policy position of Jamaica with regard to fiscal discipline and fiscal management.”
PM Holness expressed that Secretary Yellen says working with Jamaica will be a priority for the United States.
Secondly, the Prime Minister of Jamaica and his delegation met with the Administrator of the USAID, Samantha Power, and had significant discussions on the work of the organization in Jamaica.
The discussions took place within the context of Jamaica’s continued objective to foster impactful partnerships with the United States in the strategic development areas of Human Resource Development, Digitization, Energy Security, Economic Development, and Climate Resilience.
He said, “As with all our engagements over the course of this visit, we are heartened by the response of the United States.”
Further, Prime Minister Holness, with his delegation on Thursday,
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, together with Rep McCaul and Rep Green, to continue our conversation with the United States Government on areas of partnership and collaboration.
Sharing a glimpse of the meeting, PM Holness affirmed, “Rep Meeks agreed that greater collaboration with Jamaica is necessary and will be given priority by the United States. He said this will enable the creation of a resilient network for both countries.”
Following an outline by Prime Minister Holness, Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs on Jamaica’s areas of focus and interest, Rep Meeks said the United States is keen to partner with Jamaica to promote mutual interests in the areas of US investment in Jamaica and the region, crime and violence prevention, including trafficking and other transnational crimes, the flow of weapons into Jamaica and border security.
(3/3) … As with all our engagements over the course of this visit, we are heartened by the response of the United States.
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) March 31, 2022
“Additionally, the area of energy, to include renewables such as pumped hydro storage, as well as human resource development to expand Jamaica’s growth horizon were discussed,” underscored prime minister.
The United States and Jamaica enjoy a strong people to people, economic and development partnership and we are very proud of our continued strong relations. pic.twitter.com/Q7pLYclYfd
— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) March 31, 2022
PM Holness also outlined various aspects of the meeting with United States Vice President Kamala Harris. He stated that Jamaica is encouraged by the discussions they have had in the United States so far.
He exclaimed that the United States and Jamaica enjoy a strong people-to-people, economic and development partnership and we are very proud of our continued strong relations.
PM Holness added,” Yesterday, my discussions with Vice President Harris reaffirmed this strong partnership, and we discussed ways in which it can be strengthened and expanded.”
