David Jessop

A few days ago Jamaica’s junior Minister of Foreign Affairs,Arnaldo Brown, announced that his government intends setting up a comprehensive database of its professionals and investors living overseas.

A little over a week ago Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, sent a letter to the President of the European Council of Ministers, Herman Van Rompuy.

Why is that airlines in the Caribbean, unlike those in Central America, seem incapable of providing consistent, well managed and profitable air services across the region?

Has the time come to give greater consideration to the opportunity presented by what might be described as the space in between: the millions of square miles of ocean and sea bed that lie between the islands and countries of the Caribbean?

Few politicians can be said to have been responsible for changing the way in which we think, let alone contributing to reshaping fundamentally the geo-political and economic environment in which we live, but that is what the late Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s Prime Minister between 1979 and 1990, achieved.

Despite clear evidence that visitor arrivals into the Caribbean from Britain continue to decline – down by 9.6 per cent in 2011- the UK Treasury has chosen once again to ignore the representations made by Caribbean Governments about the economic damage caused by Air Passenger Duty (APD).

In the last few days the Government of Cyprus has begun to implement the measures demanded of it by the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

A few days ago, the United States Trade Representative’s office informed the US Congress that it is planning to negotiate a Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement with the European Union. 

Is there an outside possibility that President Obama might use his second term in office to ease relations with Cuba?

Venezuela’s late President, Hugo Chávez, was one of those figures about whom almost everyone had an opinion.

If you are over the age of forty it is probable that you will remember when intra-Caribbean air services were frequent, costs were low, and travel taxes and security were almost non-existent.

Last week, St Lucia’s Prime Minister, Kenny Anthony, issued a warning about Europe’s future relationship with the Caribbean.

No one should be in doubt: the global energy balance is changing rapidly with profound political and economic consequences for the way countries and regions relate to one another.

There are strong signs that the numbers of visitors from the US and Canada are once again on the increase, and the world’s most advanced developing economies, in-cluding China and Brazil, are returning to previous high levels of growth.

A week or so ago, the Board of the Caribbean Hotels and Tourism Association (CHTA) passed unanimously a resolution calling on Caribbean heads of government to convene a summit on tourism.

Over the last year, a number of studies have looked at the adverse effect crime is having on Caribbean development. 

In a few days time, leaders of European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean will meet in Santiago de Chile. 

A few days ago the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel challenged the way in which Europeans think about the world and what they have come to expect from their governments. 

Few people in the Caribbean are likely to have ever heard of the Joint Caribbean EU Partnership Strategy.

A few days ago a state owned Russian vessel, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, the Ob River, completed a voyage from Norway to Japan by taking the northern sea route across the Arctic Ocean.