ST JAMES, Jamaica — The Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, which is currently underway at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St James, has achieved its largest number of registrants ever, according to Minister of Foreign and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith.

Johnson Smith says that more 1,100 individuals have registered, exceeding the 1,000 participants that the government was targeting.

She was addressing registrants for the conference at a welcome cocktail reception to commence the event which will continue until Wednesday. This is the 10th staging of the diaspora conference.

“It is our largest number of sponsors ever,” Johnson Smith shared. “It is our largest marketplace ever. I feel really moved to celebrate that this continued growing and expanded support of movement by our nationals at home and abroad is something of which we can all collectively be proud.”

The minister thanked the diaspora members present and invited them to actively participate in this year’s sessions and in nation building.

Expressing similar sentiments while underscoring the theme for the conference, State Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Alando Terrelonge called the conference a significant opportunity for Jamaicans regardless of wherever they reside abroad to unite for a better Jamaica.

“This conference gives us a chance to reaffirm that regardless of when you left Jamaica… that you remain a part of our community. It is a celebration of our shared heritage and testament to the enduring bonds that unite us across borders,” he said.

Legacy sponsors VM Group, GraceKennedy and the Jamaica National Group also joined the ministers in calling for Jamaica to further strengthen its relationship with the diaspora while emphasising the advantage to be gained from deeper collaboration.

This year’s chair of the conference, Courtney Campbell, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of VM Group, described the diaspora’s participation in the conference as a means of “actively engaging in the search for greater outcomes for our people and our nation”.

“[It] is a display of unity and with unity eventually comes peace, greater productivity and empowerment for our young people,” he said, echoing the theme of the conference, “United for Jamaica’s Transformation: Fostering Peace, Productivity, and Youth Empowerment”.

GraceKennedy Financial Group CEO, Grace Burnett said the conference is an opportunity for Jamaica to “harness the power of unity and collective action to shape a brighter future for Jamaica”.

Meanwhile General Manager of the JN Foundation, Claudine Allen, who represented the JN Group, invited the diaspora to directly engage in philanthropic activities that would uplift more local communities.

She invited them to specifically get involved with the JN Circle, a network of volunteers started by the JN Group in 2020, located in all parishes across the country and in the UK and Canada.

“Wherever Jamaicans come together we are interested in building their capacity and preparing them for prosperity,” she assured the audience.