by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN) – “Forward Together,” the theme of a virtual forum hosted by the High Commission of St. Kitts and Nevis in Ottawa, Canada, where the topic at hand was; “The Diaspora and Post-Pandemic St. Kitts & Nevis.”
The featured speakers were Sherry Tross, High Commissioner of St. Kitts & Nevis to Canada, Brenda Foreman the newly appointed Honorary Consul in Toronto, Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris and Premier, Mark Brantley.
Brantley during his remarks, highlighted two connecting issues facing the federation; economic strain from a shuttered tourism sector and vaccine hesitancy.
Brantley called on the people of the diaspora to urge their relatives in the federation to take the vaccine in order to reopen the country and Dr. Harris ushered the same call.
Dr. Harris further called on the diplomatic core to do more in creating a database of people in the diaspora who are specialized in areas that could add to the development of the federation.
“And I would wish that our Consular Corps and our diplomatic group, do more, to establish a database, which reflects the skill set of our people … whether it is in flood and risk management, compliance issues in relation to banking, healthcare, which has become so predominant an area for specialization before and subsequent to the COVID 19 pandemic, ICT, as we begin our program of digitalization and we engage in fin-tech, financial technology and “D-cashing”, certainly we would want more of our people to be able to provide support to the ongoing development of St. Kitts and Nevis,” Harris urged.
During the virtual forum, voices of the diaspora were heard who pledged their commitment to help the federations “Build Back Better.”
