THE foreign ministry yesterday announced that Jamaica’s Ambassador to China, Ralph Thomas, will be ending his tour of duty on the Asian continent, to take up his new appointment as ambassador to the United States, next month.

This would be Thomas’s second diplomatic appointment in 26 months.

The former University of the West Indies lecturer and veteran financial consultant, who served as vice-president of the Bank of New York for 22 years, will assume the post, which was vacated by former principal of the Norman Manley Law School, Professor Stephen Vasciannie last month. Vasciannie was appointed in July 2012.

“Ambassador Thomas served in China during an important time for Jamaica/China relations, especially in the area of economic development, and ensured the continuation and strengthening of this relationship through the development of key initiatives. This level of critical thinking and creative energy is what we expect Ambassador Thomas to bring to the relationship with the USA, one of our major international partners” Foreign Minister Senator A J Nicholson said in a release yesterday.

Thomas had also served as director of the Urban Development Corporation, the Jamaica Financial Services Authority, the National Investment Board/National Investment Fund, and the Mental Health Association of Westchester, New York.

In addition to specialised training in financial analysis and policy by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Institute and Export-Import (EXIM) Bank Certification, Ambassador Thomas holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the West Indies (1976) and a Master’s in Business Administration from Columbia University (1990).

As ambassador to China, Thomas also served as non-resident ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Vietnam, and as non-resident high commissioner to Pakistan, Singapore, and Bangladesh.