Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hosts Distinguished Public Lecture
(ZIZ)– The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the first Distinguished Public Lecture on Wednesday with guest lecturer Director General of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Dr. Didacus Jules.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Patrice Nisbett, delivered the welcome remarks and gave an overview of the lecture.
“This lecture series is an initiative of the Ministry Of Foreign Affairs that forms part of its Public Outreach Programme and activities for 2014,” he said adding that “It is an attempt by the Ministry to bring some awareness to the public of the many geopolitical issues that inform the foreign policy of St. Kitts and Nevis both for your own education and edification as well as to provide an opportunity to stimulate public discussion on some of these topics.”
“This year’s topic for our lecture ‘Mature Regionalism in Action: The Role Of Foreign Policy In Advancing OECS Economic Union’ was chosen because it encapsulates the current issues that are engaging the Federation in the regional and international environment,” Minister Nisbett explained.
Dr. Jules commended the Ministry of Finance for its vision in having a lecture of this type at what he describes as a critical time.
“I wish to also offer my congratulations to those persons who conceptualized and then organized this event. It is indeed a commendable initiative and I deem it extremely relevant and timely given the profound changes that have occurred globally and within the region in the last few years,” he said.
“The conscious and deliberate actions being pursued by the OECS to establish a single financial and economic space and the urgent need for citizens and residents to understand these developments and so be better able to participate actively in shaping that common destiny,” further explained.
The first Distinguished Public Lecture was attended by members of the diplomatic and council corps, present and former High Commissioners of St. Kitts And Nevis and Permanent Secretaries among others.