From SKNIS

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts– The Saint Christopher and Nevis Parliamentary Branch was recently represented at the 43rd Annual Conference of the Caribbean, the Americas and the Atlantic Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Grand Cayman, June 15-23.

The delegation was led by Speaker of the National Assembly of Saint Christopher and Nevis the Honourable A. Michael Perkins and included Senior Minister the Hon. Vance Amory and Clerk of the National Assembly Sonia Boddie-Thompson. A total of 16 branches of the 19-member organization from across the region were represented at this important parliamentary conference. Specially invited delegates from the parliaments of the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, Nova Scotia, Canada and Cuba were also in attendance.

The conference, which was hosted by the Legislative Assembly of The Cayman Islands, was held under the theme “Building Small Developing States.” The plenary sessions provided an excellent opportunity for delegations to discuss issues affecting their various countries. The topical issues discussed were “Relevant security systems for Government entities and including parliaments of Small Developing States;” “Relevant Education System to Build the Economy of Small Developing States;” “Relevant Population Growth in the Multinational Jurisdictions of Small Developing States;” and “How should CARICOM respond to the focus of De-globalization. How will this affect the Caribbean, the Americas and the Atlantic Region?”

According to Speaker Perkins “the conference is an excellent platform for dialogue between regional parliamentary colleagues, where they not only discuss issues affecting their respective legislatures, but also discuss critical issues impacting their various territories, while at the same time find solutions to properly address these issues.”

The conference was hosted by the National Assembly of Saint Christopher and Nevis and the 44th edition of the annual conference will be hosted by the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago.