OPPOSITION Leader Mark Golding says the country’s connections with Jamaicans living overseas needs to be strengthened as the Diaspora remains an insufficiently recognised national asset, despite the significance of its contributions.

“The contributions of our Diaspora is immense and your voices deserve to be heard. We need to find effective ways to strengthen our connection with Jamaicans overseas. We must find ways of enabling you to contribute as fulsomely as you will, to help you to build Jamaica. We must find ways to leverage your tremendous skills, knowledge and goodwill as we collectively tackle the many difficult challenges facing our people,” Golding said in his remarks to the opening of the Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference, on Tuesday.

The biennial conference is being hosted by the foreign affairs ministry from June 14 to 16, under the theme ‘Reigniting a Nation for Greatness’. The conference goal is to underpin the Government’s efforts to achieve digital transformation of Jamaican society.

Golding said this digital transformation can open new and effective avenues of enabling the country to benefit from the resources of the Diaspora in national development efforts. “It can play a critical role in enabling the global Jamaican family to participate wherever and whenever our nation’s problems are being analysed and solutions formulated,” he said, adding that the parliamentary Opposition is committed to supporting and helping to advance this process. He stressed that decisions should be taken, and effected on the matters discussed over the two days.

He pointed out that the long-standing support of the Diaspora to households in Jamaica was heightened during the novel coronavirus pandemic, in remittances and other areas. He also noted the initiatives to support the health and education sectors, which were under severe strain.

Meanwhile, Senator Don Wehby, conference chair and group chief executive officer for GraceKennedy Limited — repeat sponsor — stressed that he is in full support of the Diaspora policy emerging from the 2019 conference and which has been approved by Cabinet. “I am in full support of a detailed implementation plan with timelines; what gets measured gets done,” he stated.

The hybrid – in-person and virtual — conference is the ninth such forum convened by the foreign affairs ministry since 2004, as a key component of the Government’s formal engagement with the Jamaican Diaspora.

The sessions will explore traditional areas of interest such as health, education, security, and investment with an emphasis on digitisation. Diaspora business and trade partnerships, philanthropic investment in health and education, skills harnessing, volunteerism and entrepreneurship, remain key areas of emphasis.