KINGSTON, Jamaica - The discussion about increasing and sustaining economic growth in Jamaica must recognise that tourism will be the engine of economic growth in both the short and medium terms.
In the context of the downturn in the world economy, the tourism sector has done well, as is evident in the steady annual increase in the number of visitor arrivals, resulting in much needed foreign exchange, taxes and employment.
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BEIJING — The devastating earthquake that struck southwest China over the weekend has drawn a flood of donations from across the country.
But in contrast to the pattern after a major quake in the same region five years ago, those eager to bolster relief efforts are looking to donate to private charity organizations, not to official groups that now have a reputation for corruption.
China is continuing a massive rescue operation in Sichuan province, deploying thousands of workers, after a powerful earthquake on Saturday. Rescue workers are using dynamite and heavy equipment to get through roads blocked by landslides to reach remote areas, reports say. But reaching these areas has been a struggle, with bad weather and powerful aftershocks contributing to delays.
PANAMA CITY, Panama, CMC, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched the second call for proposals for civil society organizations to carry out activities focused on poverty reduction and social inclusion and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The announcement was made here by the IDB’s Executive Director for the Government of Japan, Yasuhiro Atsumi, at the IDB Annual Meeting, during the Civil Society in Public-Private Partnerships_ toward sustainable, inclusive development session, attended by about 200 delegates.
Last month, China’s new president, Xi Jinping, chose Moscow for his first foreign visit. He and President Vladimir Putin announced a number of agreements and then traveled to Durban, South Africa, for the fifth BRICS summit, where they joined with the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa to announce the creation of a new development bank that could challenge the dominance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The five leaders’ speeches referred to a shifting world order, and Xi said “the potential of BRICS development is infinite.”
MOSCOW — A leak of details about offshore bank accounts belonging to Russian businesspeople and the wife of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov threatens to embarrass President Vladimir Putin, who has vowed to crack down on the use of tax havens.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a network of 160 journalists around the world, has started releasing its findings from a 15-month investigation into offshore money.
VIENNA, Austria, (CMC) — The Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) says it will visit several Caribbean countries as part of its campaign for the repeal of criminal defamation laws in the region.
Among the countries it will be visiting are Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and the Dominican Republic, from April 15 to May 6.
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, CMC – Caribbean countries are to benefit from a regional initiative that is aimed at providing first-hand information and generating up-to-date statistics on the degree status of human resources as well as the structure, size, and level of investment in research and development (R&D) in Central America and the Caribbean.
The Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) said that the information would be used to update the data available for the Caribbean dating back t0 1996 and in the case of Central America, 2006.
BASSE-TERRE, Guadeloupe, CMC – Writers from the English, French and Dutch speaking Caribbean meet here next week for the third International Congress of Caribbean Writers. The organisers said that the April 10-13 event will be held under the theme "Our Fight for Freedom, A Collective Epic". The main objectives of the four-day event s to increase the awareness and afford opportunities for the distribution of Caribbean literature globally.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Caribbean will likely see a surge in drug-trafficking activity by 2015 as operations move slowly out of Central America due to an international crackdown, a top U.S. State Department official said Wednesday. William Brownfield, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, said he believes drug traffickers squeezed out of Mexico, Central America and South America will target the Caribbean because it's spacious and allows them to remain undercover and take advantage of weak law enforcement in certain countries.