Dr. Amery Browne, the minister of foreign and Caricom affairs, met with US politicians and members of the TT diaspora on Thursday in Washington, DC, to address a number of topics of relevance to both parties.
According to a statement released by the ministry on Thursday, Brown initially met at the US Capitol Building with Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader in the US House of Representatives.
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They talked about immigration, violent crime, terrorism, the situation in Haiti, and potential areas of cooperation that may advance the bilateral relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and the US at both the national and regional levels.
After that, Browne met with Congressman Stacy Plaskett, who was representing the US Virgin Islands.
According to the ministry, Plaskett and Browne expressed similar viewpoints on issues including Haiti’s condition, the growth of violent crime in Caricom, and the difficulties of maintaining correspondent banking relationships.
During their conversation, Browne emphasized the significance of the Caricom symposium on crime as a public health issue, which TT will host later this year. The Prime Minister discussed the need to confront crime as a public health issue last year.
Browne praised Congressman Steven Horsford for promoting the purchase of covid19 vaccinations on TT’s behalf during the covid19 epidemic. Browne brought up the fact that the US is a source of illicit weaponry in Caricom during his conversations with Horsford.
Horsford showed interest in the recently announced Immigration (Caribbean Community Skilled Nationals) Act 2022 modifications, which increase from five to twelve the types of employees qualified for unrestricted movement throughout the Caricom area under the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Horsford also showed interest in visiting TT soon with a group from the US Congress and working together to boost TT’s tourism brands there.
In the US, Browne met with 60 TT Diaspora leaders. Several leaders met Browne in person for this hybrid summit, while others participated electronically.
He expressed his gratitude for their ongoing assistance to TT and the ministry’s dedication to the diaspora.
The creation of a ministry-wide section for diaspora issues and ongoing work on a draft national diaspora policy, according to Browne, reflect the latter.
He further stated that anyone from the diaspora was welcome to offer their opinions on this draft policy.
