First & Second Biennial Jamaican Diaspora Conference

• The First Biennial Jamaican Diaspora Conference was held 16th -17th June 2004, under the theme, “The Jamaican Diaspora: Unleashing the Potential”.  
  The primary objectives of the Conference were:
• To place on record the country’s appreciation for the contribution made by Jamaicans residing abroad to national development;
• To use the occasion as an opportunity to involve Jamaicans overseas more comprehensively in the economic, social, political and cultural;
• To develop the necessary structures to strengthen the relationship between the two groups.
• Two hundred and fifty (250) delegates attended the Conference.
• The Second Biennial Jamaican Diaspora Conference was convened 15th-16th June 2006 under the theme, The Jamaican Diaspora: Unleashing the Potential”.
• Four hundred (400) overseas representatives mainly from Canada, United Kingdom and The United States attended the Conference.  The Diaspora in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean was also represented.
• The Conference addressed a number of issues germane to the role of the Diaspora in national development, including the Crime Situation, Mobilizing the Diaspora, Forging Business Linkages, Globalization and the Diaspora and Culture and Tourism.
• The Conference endorsed a number of recommendations on a wide range of issues such as education, disaster preparedness and management, establishment of a database of Jamaican professionals in the Diaspora, and economic development.