NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (June 29, 2018) — Hon. Mark Brantley, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation, and Premier of Nevis, says he wants Nevisians and Kittitians in the Diaspora  begin engaging their homeland and share their expertise.

Mr. Brantley expressed the view at a Business Breakfast he hosted at the Montpelier Hotel and Beach Club on June 28, 2018, for participants in the first St. Kitts and Nevis Diaspora Conference hosted by the Federal Government from June 26th to 28th, 2018.

“The Diaspora Conference was really designed to now say to those of you who live outside St. Kitts and Nevis that it is time for you to engage with your home country. It is time for you to lend of your expertise, lend of your financial capital, lend of your intellectual capital to the development of St. Kitts and Nevis…We’re

trying to bridge the gap and this diaspora conference is the first step in that direction.

“Often times we have need for consultants and experts and speaking for myself, I’m tired of us having the same people come from far distant lands when many of our own nationals have that expertise,” he said.

Mr. Brantley, stated that he was looking forward to future meetings with members of the diaspora and spoke of the Federation’s unique tourism industry.

“Insofar as tourism is concerned, we’re the Yin and Yang of the tourism industry. People come to St. Kitts, they like the night life and all that, then come to Nevis to relax and vice versa…It is a good thing because of our proximity, being only two miles apart, we offer what nowhere else in the Caribbean can offer where you can actually come and enjoy both islands…

“St. Kitts is doing phenomenally well in cruise. In fact, it’s the fastest growing cruise destination in the Caribbean. We’re now investing in a second cruise pier,” he said.

Other presentations were made by Mr. Greg Phillip, Chief Executive Officer of the Nevis Tourism Authority, and Ms. Kimone Moving, Director of the Nevis Investment Promotion Agency.

Also present at the business breakfast were Hon. Eric Evelyn, Hon. Spencer Brand, Mrs. Hélène Anne Lewis, Legal Advisor to the Nevis Island Administration and Mr. Stedmond Tross Senior Advisor and Cabinet Secretary in the NIA.