(Digicel) – Kingston, Jamaica. Digicel, the best value mobile operator in the Caribbean, Central America and the Pacific, has today been announced as one of the main partners with the U.S Department of State to support the Caribbean IdEA Marketplace.
Aimed to foster collaboration between local and global Caribbean diaspora entrepreneurs, this business competition platform will encourage participants to develop and expand innovative projects that will generate employment and economic growth.
Initial focus countries include the Bahamas, Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago with the following objectives:
- To bring about engagement between local Caribbean and diaspora entrepreneurs to promote high impact development programmes;
- To create new, cross-sector partnerships for economic and social development;
- To exchange knowledge and create learning networks with diaspora communities.
CIM will be implemented in the context of the International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA), which was launched by the U.S Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, on May 17th in Washington DC at the Global Diaspora Forum. Other partners include the Inter-American Development Bank and Scotiabank.
During the Global Diaspora Forum, U.S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said; “As a collaborator, we will work closely with diaspora leaders and other partners to implement projects and maximise our impact.”
Colm Delves, Group CEO of Digicel, explains; “The six million strong global diaspora community consists of highly skilled and educated entrepreneurs and is acknowledged as an important engine of growth and development in the United States and beyond.
“As the number one mobile operator in the region, Digicel has been instrumental in driving innovation, growing economies and creating employment and opportunities for the people of the Caribbean. As such, we applaud the U.S Department of State’s commitment to spurring employment and economic growth in the Caribbean and are delighted to be a part of this fantastic programme.”
