Officials from Jamaica and Ghana begin a three-day meeting in Kingston today, exploring possibilities for cooperation in areas ranging from mining and energy to tourism and public health.

This week's meeting is under the umbrella of the Ghana-Jamaica Permanent Commission for Cooperation, activated in July when the Ghanian president, John Kufuor, made a three-day visit to Jamaica.

Ghana's president, John Kufuor (left), and Jamaica's prime minister, P J Patterson, during Kufuor's visit to Jamaica in July.

At the time Kufuor and Patterson spoke extensively about Jamaica's bauxite/alumina sector and shared information on plans for the expansion of their industries - Jamaica's arrangement for the more than doubling of the capacity of its Jamalco alumina refinery in Clarendon, and Ghana's proposal for expanding its aluminium smelter.

Energy will be a big factor in both projects.
In Jamaica's case, the plan is for the refinery, now owned 50:50 by the government and Alcoa, to lift its capacity from 1.25 million tonnes to 2.65 million tonnes a year.

The proposed energy source under the near US$1billion expansion is liquefied natural gas (LNG), to be supplied by Trinidad and Tobago under an energy conversion plan for big industries that the government now has on the drawing board.

Ghana has used hydro-power for its aluminium smelter, but wants to explore, with Jamaica, least-cost energy mixes and supply arrangements between the major supplier and independent producers who sell into the national grid.

Both sides also want to share regulatory arrangements for their bauxite industries, with Ghana hoping to tap into the expertise of the Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI).

Ghana (the Gold Coast) is the origin of many of the slaves who came to the Caribbean, including Jamaica, and both countries hope to exploit this connection in cultural and tourism cooperation.

Among the ideas that have been floated is Ghana's creation, with Jamaican support, of a museum on slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.

The two countries are also discussing the possibility of joint tourism promotion and the strengthening of a project for building unity among people of African descent.

Ghana is also keen on collaboration in education and sport development. Jamaica has shown particular interest in cooperation in research and development in medicinal herbs.

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