KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Minister of Culture for the United Arab Emirates, (UAE) Noura Al Kaabi.

Grange signed the MoU on the margins of the UAE/Caribbean Cooperation Forum now underway in the UAE capital, a statement from the ministry said Saturday night.

The MoU commits Jamaica and the UAE to work towards developing a cultural cooperation agreement between both nations.

“I look forward to the development and outcome of this agreement,” said Grange who added that the initial talks focussed on music and food.

 “We discussed the impact of Jamaica’s music …  as Minister [Al Kaabi] said, ‘who does not know of Jamaica’s Reggae music all over the world?’ We spoke about our food, particularly jerk and our coffee,” Grange said.

The UAE/Caribbean Forum is bringing together more than 100 government and business leaders from the UAE and the Caribbean to discuss cooperation in several areas including culture, tourism, finance and investment.

The Jamaican delegation includes Grange as well as the Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith.

The forum which began on Saturday will end on Monday, November 26.