 Welcome to interview. On our program today, we speak with Dr. Jocelyn Clarke Fletcher, Ambassador for the diaspora affairs. Welcome, Dr. Fletcher. Thank you very much. Dr. Fletcher, first of all, you know diaspora is a very interesting term, and of later a lot has been spoken about diaspora. But first of all, could you tell us about why is there a need for this close connection between countries in general, not just St. Lucia in particular, but for countries in general and their respective overseas constituents as it's mainly termed. Okay, for a number of years now, regional governments in not only regional countries around the world, but more my emphasis has been mostly on the regional governments and the African governments, the African Union, they have paid particular interest in the diaspora in the sense that they have recognized the viable contributions that diaspora makes towards their homeland. World Bank has stated that diaspora for St. Lucia alone contributes about a little over 35 million in remittances to St. Lucia. But diaspora also invest in our countries, diaspora because of the fact that they are outside, they're exposed to opportunities that we may not be aware of that can be viable in our own country. Diaspora go out mostly to have skills, to sharpen their skills, improve on the academics and so on. So with all of these put together, diaspora can be very viable for the countries or their homeland and what they can give and what they can do for us. Well, how has the St. Lucia diaspora kept the links particularly with St. Lucia in the St. Lucia instance? Now, you have to understand that there's a lot of diaspora when they leave their homeland, they do not forget their country. They have to go out because probably for economic reasons someone, to better, as I say, the economic situation, someone to educate themselves. Like me, I went out because I wanted to improve on my education and standing and sharpen on my skills. While they are there, you never forget your homeland because what you're in is a guest in somebody's house. You see, they might give you the best room, the best everything, but you know for sure that this is not your home because you cannot just put up your feet on the center table and take their remote. That's the way we look at it. So diaspora, they have always cared about their country and with that feeling, what they do, if they form little groups in the countries where they are based and they celebrate things like independence, Juner Queo, National Day, you know, these things to keep their homeland alive in the communities where they are. Now, that is a big impact for tourism because people in these communities where they are based see them doing those things and have an interest in coming to our homeland and visiting our country by the things they do because our diaspora, when they celebrate Juner Queo, they put all the local foods out, the national way that they put on. When it's independence, the things they put up for independence, the things they say about independence, about their country, how they show our crafts and so on. So they've done all of that outside, but one thing I can tell you, by just the very fact that diaspora does these things, they love their country. They want to give back now some of them after they have acquired the skills and the education that they want, after they have worked and maybe make the amount of money that they once sent at home by the house that landed in in St. Lucia, they decide they retire. Now, when they retire, they want to go back home to the tranquility of St. Lucia, where you know, you have one kind of climate and it's beautiful and safe. So they want to come back home. Some want to, may not really want, may reach retirement age in a certain sense. Maybe they say at 40, I want to retire, but they want to have a business. So they want to look back into St. Lucia, because they've made money in most of the big countries that they go to, where they have migrated to. The earning power is sometimes twice and even three times more than our currency. So that by saving and acquiring or even selling assets that they have in those countries, they want to return home and invest in that country so that that can be the minute they help them keep going and keep working. And that's what they do. Yes, we know that you're getting more and more organized and there's a closer link with the Union of St. Lucia Overseas Associations. Tell us a bit about that initiative. Okay. In 2008, the Stevenson King administration decided to take on diaspora seriously because there was the stress Jamaica had been on or had moved again, Grenadis in kids and Tiga, especially Barbados, they were the leaders advocating for dialogue and communicating and connecting with the diaspora. So Mr. King's administration with the Ambassador Sumer joined up with a grouping that had called themselves the Union of St. Lucia Overseas Associations. So that meant associations in the United Kingdom, in the U.S., in Canada, Caribbean and so on. So they formed this association and the Union was working with the Stevenson King administration to form what we call the diaspora policy because then they had decided we need to take diaspora seriously. They must have a front seat, a say, in the economic development and social development of our country. Of course, unfortunately, the government demitted office, but when the Kenyanya government assumed office, they approved the diaspora policy because they too understood and accepted that diaspora are important and that we need to pull them, bring them in. And they demitted office soon after the policy was approved. Kenny Allen Shastney government now decided, okay, the groundwork has been laid. They also understand how important it is. Diaspora is even bigger than the population of St. Lucia. Diaspora is persons born in St. Lucia and children born to St. Lucia parents, whether they are, they were born in the country where they reside at the moment. So our prime minister has established the office, has appointed an ambassador with sole responsibility for diaspora. So the diaspora now begin to see, well, okay, they're taking us seriously. They care about us. So now the policies there, they're put in ambassador. They have an office set up. So now we can dialogue with the ambassador. We can work on the policies, policies that deal with make incentives to encourage diaspora to invest in St. Lucia, make it easier for them to return to St. Lucia to invest and to come home and use their skills. The prime minister has commissioned a database to be designed so that our diaspora can register their skills on that database. That will be set up on the USLUA website and the government of St. Lucia website. So a lot has happened in USLUA. This huge union has gotten even bigger now that we have this office because we have reached out to St. Lucia, not only in associations, but St. Lucia is working other big institutions and they're not really members of any association. Well thank you Ambassador. On that note, we'll take our break on the interview. We'll be back in just a moment. Welcome back and we're continuing our discussion with the ambassador responsible for diaspora affairs and Dr. Clark Fletcher, you mentioned briefly on the carbon diaspora skills database. Maybe we can finish off your point on that and also maybe look at the Caribbean 2030 initiative. Okay. With the skills database, as I said, persons in the diaspora will be able to go on this database and register their skills. All the diaspora around the world will make it available to them. It will be on the USLUA website, it will be on the government website. So employers in St. Lucia looking for skills, you know, you have a vacancy. Let's say a biochemical engineer. Before you just send it out there so that somebody who's a Canadian citizen, no Caribbean roots whatsoever can apply because they have all that skill and apply for it, you would go to your database and see if we have any solutions that match that. Any diaspora person that match to what you require. So we don't say we just, because you're a solution, but we say the database is there. Look for the skills and bring them in. So that we're seeing that to the diaspora too. You have the opportunity to return home to those jobs in both government or the private sector because this database is there for your skills. Okay. With the 2030 initiative going forward, I know that you're looking forward to that and maybe we can even look at that and also the constructive ways of reversing what has not only been termed as the brain-driven phenomenon. There has been what we, you know, and that is something that the governments of the region have looked at when people say brain-driven. Okay. People we've found that persons have not been able to, you know, you send people to university, people go to college and when they come back, they're not adequately, they're not, it's not viable because they have loans, student loans to pay and everything like that. And that has happened, that has been going on for years. I mean, look at me, I'm an old person and I would find that I would go out there, study, that's how I left because I went out there to study and I couldn't be absorbed at home because they're just not the jobs. The way our business places are, the skills that we send people out to get, they cannot absorb them into our society. So when people leave, people say, students go overseas and work and study and they don't come back. They say there's a brain drain. People also leave, that's one part of our diaspora, people also leave so that they can become, make things better for themselves, you know, be able to have a better job or make money because they don't really have necessarily better jobs, but they make money that they can take care of their business at home. Okay. So right now, government is now looking, the government, not only this our government, but the government of the region because this is a one, this thing is one mind with all the Caribbean regions. They're looking at how they recognize, they recognize in the contributions that the diaspora can make for our country in our social and economic development. They're opening up avenues for them to allow them to come in investment opportunities. They're giving them the use of their resources and skills, you know, and all these things to help them return home, making it easier. We're enticing them. This office is set up to bring them in and a diaspora person is recruited as the ambassador because I know I was out there. I know what my diaspora needs, what they're looking for. I know why I left and I know that what they want and it's easier for me to dialogue with them because, you know, like we always say, a pregnant woman is the only one that can understand what another pregnant woman is going through, even if somebody else, I understand, but you don't really know. So this is what we have been doing and this is the threat to the government. We are opening up and the foreign ministers and ambassadors and leaders in the region who have responsibility for diaspora actually are coming together. They're now getting reaching out to OECS. They've reached out to me and Caricom. They're going to be having a meeting. In fact, I was called by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Barbados to assist her in them putting up, setting up this conference for diaspora ambassadors and ministers to discuss or, you know, Caricom, to discuss this very thing of how we can encourage each country. Jamaica is having a conference this year for diaspora. Barbados is having this, I think in July. Jamaica is in September. St. Lucia is also planning this in September as well. So all everybody, now the African Union, the ambassador for the African Union to the U.S., got in touch with me because they are targeting the persons of African descent. Okay. Well, Ambassador, we really want to thank you because you really got to wrap up on our program today and I'm sure that you will be continuing the work of enticing the St. Lucia's out there in the diaspora to get involved with your office and to see how well they can lend support to the entire program and the unit stationed at the office of the Prime Minister. Thanks once more for being with us on the interview. Thank you for having us. Well, that's our interview today. We had the first Dr. Jocelyn Clark Fletcher. She's the ambassador for diaspora affairs. I'm Rhonda Bryant. See you. Goodbye.