State minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Pearnel Charles Jr., re-affirmed his government’s commitment to fostering blue economic growth in Jamaica. The state minister made these remarks at the Global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya last week.
The state minister also announced Jamaica would remain active on regional an international fora, representing the interests of small-island developing states.
Jamaica has been the host country to the International Seabed Authority for almost 25 years. Charles Jr. also spoke of the “number of changes” instituted at national level as a “demonstration of our commitment”. These include, among others, a legislation which bans some plastics and polystyrene foam products as of January 2019, and a new fisheries legislation.
“This represents a concrete step to reduce the negative impact of marine pollution on coastal communities, and key economic sectors such as tourism and fisheries,” the state minister added.
