International trade and investment; the Diaspora; and the purchasing power of African Americans are among the many topics of discussion at the 17th annual Multi-National Business Conference to be held at the Ritz Carlton Resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, November 8th to the 11th.
The Honorable Portia Simpson-Miller; the hon. Dr. Kenny Anthony, St. Lucia’s Prime Minister; and the Most Hon. P.J. Patterson will address the conference. The list of speakers and panelists include Ambassador Andrew Young, one of America’s best known civil rights leaders who once headed the U.S. Permanent Mission to the United Nations; Terry McMillan, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist; Randall Robinson, founder of Trans Africa who helped mobilize national and international public opinion behind human development efforts in Africa and the Caribbean and the global campaign to end the racist apartheid system in South Africa; Daymond John founder of FUBU clothing and investor in the Shark Tank Television series; and Billionaire Investor Michael V. Roberts.
Two Jamaican cabinet minister; former New York City Mayor, David Dinkins; the woman who led Essence Magazine to prominence for more than decade, Susan Taylor; screen and stage actress and author, Sheryl Lee Ralph; U.S. Congressional representatives, Yvette Clarke and Ed Towns; and the Caribbean’s leading hotel developer with properties in Jamaica, the Bahamas, Antigua and St. Lucia, Gordon “Butch” Stewart also join the list.
Everything from the rebuilding of Haiti to the use of science, technology, engineering and math to help pave the way forward for the U.S. and Caribbean communities and its neighborhoods will be covered. Speakers will also talk of ways the U.S. and the Caribbean can succeed in business. Some of these discussions will include the impact and influence of Jamaican Chinese in business; opportunities for Caribbean fashion designers, entrepreneurs and cultural icons. Renewable energy and business finance will also be a complementary focal point in these discussions as well. 
“We have organized the conference across the Caribbean and Panama for 17 years, drawing on the perspectives, experiences and goals of individual countries which have ranged from Jamaica, Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, the Bahamas, U.S. Virgin Islands and St. Kitts-Nevis. Our basic goal is to encourage trade and investment and boost economic and social links between the Caribbean and the U.S.,” says Karl B. Rodney, publisher of New York Carib News, the 30 year old weekly newspaper that serves the Caribbean and African-American communities in the U.S.
Aside from discussing business opportunities, the trillion dollar purchasing power of Blacks in America, and social and economic issues; Carib News will also celebrate Jamaica’s 50 years of independence with a tribute to the life and legacy of Harry Belafonte by Harvard University law professor and author, Dr. Charles Olgetree.
“We intend to honor Mr. Belafonte, whose immense international reputation as an entertainer and humanitarian are matched only by his major contributions to the civil rights movement in the U.S. and his involvement in human rights campaign around the world,” added Mr. Rodney. “The fact that he’s going to be presented adds another dimension to our conference.”
caribnewsblog 