FOUR new heads of overseas missions — two career diplomats and two politically-appointed — have been named by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.

“I am pleased to announce the appointments of Mrs Marsha Coore-Lobban as high commissioner to Canada; His Excellency Arthur Williams as ambassador to the People’s Republic of China; Dr Richard Brown as the head of Jamaica’s permanent mission to the United Nations and specialised agencies in Geneva; and Mrs Natalie Campbell-Rodriques as high commissioner to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,” Johnson Smith said in a statement released on Saturday.

Coore-Lobban is a career diplomat with over 26 years in the Jamaican foreign service. Currently assigned as the acting undersecretary for diaspora, consular and protocol affairs, her previous overseas appointments include service as deputy consul general in Miami, charge d’affaires at the embassy in Brazil, and deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Washington, DC.

Coore-Lobban holds a master’s degree in international relations from The University of the West Indies.

Williams currently serves as Jamaica’s high commissioner to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, with concurrent accreditation in non-resident capacity as high commissioner/ambassador/consul general to several countries in the Caribbean. He has previously served as senator, Cabinet minister, and board representative of Jamaica at the Inter-American Development Bank. The ambassador-designate is an attorney-at-law.

Dr Brown is a career diplomat with over 19 years of experience in bilateral, regional and multilateral trade. He currently serves as acting undersecretary for the Foreign Trade Division of the foreign affairs ministry. He also has previous assignments as director for Caricom single market and sectoral programmes at the Caricom Secretariat, and as international trade specialist/director of trade at the then Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries.

Dr Brown received his PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Campbell-Rodriques served as a member of the Senate of Jamaica and as senior advisor to the minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, having returned to Jamaica from Rwanda where she started a real estate company and undertook consultancies with international entities and NGOs on developmental issues including youth and gender matters.

She also previously served as community relations/diaspora development attaché at the Embassy of Jamaica in Washington, DC. She holds a master’s degree in organisational sciences from George Washington University.

“I have full confidence in the new appointees to continue to deepen the engagements and relationships which Jamaica fosters at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. I extend my best wishes and assurance that they carry the full support of my ministry in the conduct of their new responsibilities,” Johnson Smith said.