Barbados to open three new Diplomatic Missions
To expand Barbados’ diplomatic footprint, as part of the national effort toward economic reconstruction and business generation, three new missions will be established in the upcoming financial year.
“New diplomatic offices will be opened in Ghana, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates to expand Barbados’ South-South cooperation, strengthening our global people-to-people contact, and also contributing to the national effort toward economic reconstruction, business and revenue generation, increased investment, and expanded trade in Barbados’ goods and services, including tourism,” Minister Walcott stated.
He further explained the rationale for establishing diplomatic offices in Ghana, Kenya and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “These new missions will be at the forefront of efforts to identify new and emerging sectors that can propel and expand the Barbadian economy, and also strengthen, advance and diversify bilateral and multilateral action to promote Barbados’ interests globally. Since Independence, our mantra has been “friends of all, satellites of none”; it is now time for us to widen our network of friends, especially in the face of COVID-19,” Senator Walcott said.
“These new missions will be at the forefront of efforts to identify new and emerging sectors that can propel and expand the Barbadian economy, and also strengthen, advance and diversify bilateral and multilateral action to promote Barbados' interests globally. Since Independence, our mantra has been “friends of all, satellites of none”; it is now time for us to widen our network of friends, especially in the face of COVID-19,” Walcott said.
In Kenya, the office will serve as Barbados’ Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Nairobi, which is the third-largest United Nations Office in the world, and which is the Headquarters for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UN-Habitat). The Mission in Nairobi will therefore be able to ensure a heightened and sustained level of participation by Barbados in the work and deliberations of both of these organizations, which plan an important role concerning programmes and initiatives being undertaken on the island.
“In the United Arab Emirates, the establishment of an Embassy in Abu Dhabi will serve to significantly advance the growth of a stronger bilateral partnership with the [UAE], which is one of the most developed countries in the Middle East and wields considerable power in the region.
“The diplomatic presence in Abu Dhabi will also facilitate the pursuit by Barbados of economic growth opportunities in the region, and will be a platform for the formation and strengthening of strategic alliances with the other Gulf States,” he said.
The Mission Office in Ghana, which is said to be the ancestral homeland of a large population of Barbados’ population, will be established in Accra and will work to advance multiple ongoing initiatives intended to foster a deep and mutually beneficial relationship between Barbados and Ghana. It will also pursue new platforms to advance Barbados’ pursuit of economic growth opportunities both in Ghana and in other countries in western Africa.
The Minister said in this regard, Everil Lewis will be appointed as Diaspora Relations Officer in the High Commission to the United Kingdom; and Phil Phillips as Commercial and Cultural Attaché in the High Commission to the Republic of China.
“The aforementioned will take place within the framework of a renewed Country Team mechanism and concomitantly with the development of an efficient coordinating mechanism for External Engagement, which the Cabinet approved last Thursday,” he said.
Senator Walcott also announced during the update that Ambassador Liz Thompson will be based in Bridgetown, with special responsibility for climate change, Small Island Development States (SIDs) issues and the law of the sea. (AH)
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