Jamaica is an active member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement (G-77). Jamaica is a beneficiary of the Lome Conventions, through which the European Union (EU) grants trade preferences to selected states in Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, and has played a leading role in the negotiations of the successor agreement in Fiji in 2000.
Illicit drugs:Transshipment point for cocaine from Central and South America to North America and Europe; illicit cultivation of cannabis; government has an active manual cannabis eradication program
Historically, Jamaica has had close ties with the UK. Trade, financial, and cultural relations with the United States are now predominant. Jamaica is linked with the other countries of the English-speaking Caribbean through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and more broadly through the Association of Caribbean States (ACS). Jamaica has served two 2-year terms on the United Nations Security Council, in 1979-80 and 2000-2001.
In the follow-on meetings to the December 1994 Summit of the Americas, Jamaica—together with Uruguay—was given the responsibility of coordinating discussions on invigorating society.
Diplomatic relations
List of countries which Jamaica maintains diplomatic relations with:
Belize and Jamaica are two of fifteen commonwealth realms, members of: the Association of Caribbean States, the Caribbean Community, the Belt & Road Initiative, the Caribbean Development Bank, the Commonwealth of Nations, ECLAC, EU-CARIFORUM, the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, the Organization of American States, the Small Island Developing States, and the United Nations.
Both countries established diplomatic relations on November 3, 1982.[5]
Canada and Jamaica are two of fifteen commonwealth realms, members of: the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States, and the United Nations.
Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1962. Since March 4, 1963, Canada has a high commission in Kingston. Jamaica has a high commission in Ottawa. On April 15, 2009, Canadian Prime MinisterStephen Harper became the first Canadian head of government to address the Jamaican parliament. There are 231,000 people of Jamaican descent living in Canada. Jamaican-Canadians celebrate their island heritage through festivals held in major cities across Canada, the most recognized of which is Caribana. Caribana is held in Toronto, Ontario every year and attracts over one million visitors to the region, many of whom fly all the way from Jamaica.
Prime Minister Percival James Patterson visited Cuba at the end of May 1997. In the fall of 1997, Jamaica upgraded its consulate in Havana to an embassy, and the nonresident Jamaican ambassador to Cuba was replaced by a resident ambassador.
Ghana, as the former Gold Coast, and Jamaica share historical links through the slave trade and forced Ashanti/Akan emigration to the Caribbean. Ghana and Jamaica have a Joint Permanent Commission, and there are plans for Ghanaian investment in Jamaica.
Haiti has an embassy in Kingston and Jamaica has an honorary consul in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
In January, 2007, Haitian president René Préval, made a four-day working visit to Jamaica. At a press conference, Jamaican prime minister Portia Simpson Miller announced that a Joint Jamaica/Haiti Commission would be convened later that year.[16]
Both nations inherited many cultural and political connections from British colonisation, such as membership in the Commonwealth of Nations, parliamentary democracy, the English language and cricket.[17]
India has a High Commission in Kingston,[18] whilst Jamaica has a consulate in New Delhi.[19]
The United States maintains close and productive relations with the Government of Jamaica. Former prime minister Patterson visited Washington, DC, several times after assuming office in 1992. In April 2001, Prime Minister Patterson and other Caribbean leaders met with President George W. Bush during the Summit of the Americas in Quebec, Canada, at which a "Third Border Initiative" was launched to deepen U.S. cooperation with Caribbean nations and enhance economic development and integration of the Caribbean nations. Then-Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller attended the "Conference on the Caribbean--A 20/20 Vision" in Washington in June 2007.
President Barack Obama visited the island on April 9. 2015. President Obama managed to squeeze in some fun in between meetings with Jamaican and Caribbean leaders on his trip to Jamaica this week—from paying homage to reggae star Bob Marley to practising his own Jamaican accent.
The United States is Jamaica's most important trading partner: bilateral trade in goods in 2005 was over $2 billion. Jamaica is a popular destination for American tourists; more than 1.2 million Americans visited in 2006. Also, some 10,000 American citizens, including many dual-nationals born on the island, permanently reside in Jamaica.
†Physiographically, these continental islands are not part of the volcanic Windward Islands arc, although sometimes grouped with them culturally and politically.
#Bermuda is an isolated North Atlanticoceanic island, physiographically not part of the Lucayan Archipelago, Antilles, Caribbean Sea nor North American continental nor South American continental islands. It is grouped with the Northern American region, but occasionally also with the Caribbean region culturally.