Nairobi, Kenya, November 27, 2018: Minister of Public Infrastructure, International Transport et al, the Honourable Ian Liburd is leading a delegation to the first global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference in Nairobi, Kenya from November 26 to 28. The Government officials supporting the Minister are Mrs. Carlene Henry-Morton (Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism), Mr. Marc Williams (Director of Marine Resources), Mr. Lemuel Pemberton (Director of Fisheries, Nevis), Mr. Sheldon Henry (Foreign Service Officer, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Ms. Tricia Greaux (Marine Management and Habitat Monitoring Officer, Department of Marine Resources).Within Minister Liburd’s speech at the Leader’s Commitment segment, he reaffirmed that the Government of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is committed to develop the blue economy for benefit of the citizens. The Minister stated that the government has realigned the work programs of the marine institutions through legislative and policy support in order to meet the goals that it has set for the blue economy in providing economic opportunities for the people of the Federation for the foreseeable future. He stated that “It is imperative that we truly engage in economic diplomacy concerning the blue economy; as multilateral negotiations arise, we have to utilize different approaches and strategic thinking as small island developing states; assessing our priorities within the realm of realism and practicality; whilst, improving our practices and policies relating to oceans”.
Within the margins of the conference Minister Liburd is holding bilateral meetings with delegations from different countries in order to improve the level of cooperation between St. Kitts and Nevis and those countries, while maximizing the prospects for the growth of our blue economy. The other members of the delegation are participating in others technical level exchanges based on their level of expertise in order to support the blue economy initiatives laid out by Minister Liburd on behalf of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis.
