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Selling Jamaica

Published:Sunday | February 10, 2013 | 12:00 AM
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Ambassador of Panama Jorge Constantino (left) with Arnold Foote (centre), president of the World Federation of Consuls, and Colombian ambassador Luis Guillermo Martinez.
From left: Milton Samuda chair-man, JAMPRO, and Grantley Stephenson in what appears to be an amusing conversation with Aykut Eken.
Aykut Eken (left) makes a presentation to Sancia Bennett-Templer (right), president of JAMPRO. Looking on are Grantley Stephenson (second left) and Costas Lefkaritis.- photos byWinston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Jorge E. Constantino (left), ambassador of Panama in conversation with Nikolaos Margaropoulos.
From left: Dr Dora Dixon and Julian Templer listen intently to Christopher Samuda.
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JAMPRO Chairman Milton Samuda was in a selling mood during the 'Welcome to Jamaica' dinner hosted by the national trade and investment agency recently at the Spanish Court hotel. As Samuda addressed visiting directors of the World Federation of Consuls, he talked up Jamaica's huge potential.

"Jamaica has an immense appetite for business in the key sector of information communications technology and business process outsourcing. There are also big opportunities in shipping and logistics, international financial services, tourism, export-oriented manufacturing and our pervasive creative industries," he told the gathering.

At the beginning of the function, president of JAMPRO, Sancia Bennett-Templer, issued a warm welcome to the visiting consuls, briefly outlining the opportunities present in the country. Nikolaos Margaropoulos, consul general of the Philippines to Greece, also gave a brief history of the World Federation of Consuls.

surprise presentation

Local businessman and Turkey's honorary consul in Jamaica, Arnold Foote, who is currently president of the World Federation of Consuls, made a special surprise presentation on behalf of the federation to Samuda and Bennett-Templer with an award for their dedicated work to Jamaica's development.

The newly elected board of directors of the World Federation of Consuls, a global network of consular associations created to support and improve the status, legitimacy and effectiveness of all consular officers in all receiving states, was in Jamaica for its first board meeting.

The visiting consuls who attended the dinner included Costas Lefkaritis, vice-president of the Consular Corps of Cyprus; Aykut Eken, consul general of Jamaica to Turkey; Nikolaos Margaropoulos, consul general of the Philippines to Greece; François Piers, Leif-Kristian Sverstad, consul of the Republic of Yemen in Norway; Dr Mirza Baig, consul of The Republic of Yemen to Pakistan; Thomas Amaral Neves and Fra Dolores Bustelo of Brazil; Taiwo Afolab; Otunba Lawal of Nigeria; professor Stelio Campanale of Italy; Mohammad Shajaham of Bangladesh and Elaine Davis of Trinidad.