New Canadian High Commissioner to Jamaica Emina Tudakovic, who is from Vancouver, West Coast of Canada, she cleared her focus that to strengthen the bilateral relationship between Canada and Jamaica. To build good relations in other fields also between Jamaica and Canada.
High Commissioner Tudakovic, who officially began her duties in March 2021 while giving an interview, said that Jamaica and Canada, both countries, had established goof bilateral cooperation in the sector of security, immigration and development and have a strong partnership in multilateral fora.
High Commissioner Tudakovic said that so really, it has been to make sure that they were a little more coherent in terms of a strategic approach to Jamaica and building on what they already had.
High Commissioner Tudakovic noted that the strengthening of people-to-people ties would also be one of her goals and building on those relationships on the cultural and social diplomacy side as well.
She said that further that she would be continuing the discussions with the Government on the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that would facilitate cooperation between Jamaica and Canada during the criminal investigations. The agreement allows the two countries to share information in a much easier way in terms of preventing crime.
High Commissioner Tudakovic said that during the fight against COVID-19 also both countries played an important role. Tudakovic also said that her country had previously contributed approximately US$40 million to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for disbursement across the Caribbean.
According to High Commissioner Tudakovic said that Canada had been one of the major donors of the COVID-19 vaccines globally through the COVAX facility. This initiative focuses on the worldwide initiative aimed at equal distribution of the vaccine.
Additionally, she informed that more than $112 million was disbursed under the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI).
The CFLI provides support for small-scale but high-impact projects undertaken by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that align with the Government of Canada’s international assistance priorities.
