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14 juillet 2014
Remarks
Honourable Minister,
Monsieur le Ministre des affaires étrangères,
Ministres du gouvernement
Messieurs les parlementaires
Chers collègues du corps diplomatique,
Chers compatriotes
It is a great honour for me and the staff of the French Embassy to
welcome You for the celebration of the French national day. This year is
a little different from the past years due to the recent change of
ambassadors. I am acting as chargé d’affaires a.i., since the departure of
the previous ambassador Mrs Ginette de Matha. The Ambassador
designate Mr.Jean-Michel Despax has arrived yesterday evening and
will be soon fully in charge of the Embassy. I shall introduce him briefly.
Mr Jean-Michel Despax is a graduate of the ENA (French School of
Public Administration) and has graduated from the National School of
Public Works as an engineer (ingénieur de l’école nationale des travaux
publics de l’Etat). He started his career in the ministry of housing and
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urban planning where he worked from 1987 to 1982. As a diplomat,
Jean-Michel Despax was posted in New York at the office of the French
Representative to the United Nations from 1987 to 1990. He has worked
as a technical counsellor at the cabinet of the minister in charge of
Francophonie (community of French speaking countries) from 1991 to
1992. He was second counsellor at the French Embassy in Yaoundé
(1992-1996). He was assigned at the French Representative office to the
Disarmament Conference in Geneva from 1996-1999 and again as
second counsellor, then as first counsellor from 2002 to 2006. JeanMichel Despax was General Consul in Milan from 2006 to 2010. Back in
the French ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was appointed delegate for the
External Action of Local Communities and then Secretary General for
Decentralized Cooperation since July 2011. And now designated as
Ambassador of France in Jamaica.
Thank You for being with us tonight on this special day.
The 14th of July 1789 as you all know, is an historical date in French
History, as it marks the passage from one political regime, the Monarchy,
to the Republic, laying the basis for future changes which, two hundred
years or so later eventually led to the foundation of the French Republic
as we know it today. “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité”. Freedom, Equality,
Fraternity are the pillars or at least the fundamental principles of our
republic. But I am not going any further into the History of France. It is
the time and the occasion to speak about the bilateral relations between
France and Jamaica.
Jamaica and France have a longstanding and peaceful relationship.
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Given the fact that Les Antilles françaises/ French West Indies,
particularly Guadeloupe and Martinique, are part of the Caribbean
region, we are neighbours and should be able to enhance further our
relationship and to strengthen cultural and economic ties in the future.
The valuable support of Jamaica recently helped these two French West
Indian islands (to) become members of the Association of Caribbean
States.
The cultural area when it comes to music especially Regggae music, and
also dance, or literature, is alive and well, between our two countries.
Many Jamaican musicians travel to France every summer to perform in a
variety of festivals. Reggae, this Jamaican music, is a brand, and is
familiar and very popular in France. French dancers from the French
West Indies performed this year and the year before at the Phillip
Sherlock Centre at UWI. Last November, the revival of the salon Trade
and Culture show, Touch of France, after several years of interruption
was made possible thanks to the good will of the partners of the French
Embassy, among them the Club France Jamaica, the Shortwood
Teachers College , the Department of Modern Languages and literature
at UWI, JAFT ( Jamaican Association of French Teachers) and of course
the sponsorship of Vinci and Total. The delegation from Martinique
headed by Mrs Christiane Mage , President of the Cooperation
Committee of the Regional Council was as well instrumental in making
this event a success. They were warmly greeted by the Honourable
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the Senator A.J.Nicholson.
It was the first visit of a delegation from Martinique in Jamaica
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Every year 20 or 25 Jamaican students, with the support of the Embassy
have spent one year in France as “lecteurs”/ lecturers to teach English in
French schools and for their own part, improve their knowledge of
French, of France and of its people.
Learning and teaching French is taken very seriously by the Jamaican
authorities, in the first place, by the Ministry of education, UWI and
Shortwood college. The Embassy does its best to support those efforts
with limited financial resources. At UWI, the Department of Modern
Languages and Literature is doing a lot with the help of the Embassy
(Gwenaelle) to promote the study of the French language. French cineclubs launched a year ago at UWI and at the Shortwood Teachers
College give students an opportunity to view once a month French films
and documentaries and catch a glimpse of the everyday life of French
people and French society. The Alliance Française de Jamaïque
moved to a new location on Bradley Avenue close to the hub of Half Way
Tree. Founded in 1951 this “institution” is part of the cultural landscape in
Kingston and is greatly contributing to promote French and French
culture. It will be fully back in operation once it has resettled completely
in its new premises. The France-Caribbean Programme, or Programme
France-Caraïbe (Joint Masters in Political Studies and International
Cooperation) is also an essential part of the bilateral cooperation
between France and Jamaica. The agreement signed in April 2010 run
for the time being until 2015. The partner institutions are UWI, Sciences
Politiques Bordeaux, and the UAG (Université Antilles Guyane). The
Embassy provides for the airfares for the UWI students for their year of
study in Bordeaux and in Martinique at the UAG.
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Regarding economics, the marked improvement of the Jamaican
economy due to the reforms put in place a year ago by the Jamaican
Government, with the support of the IMF is making Jamaica more
attractive to foreign investments. Some French companies have thus
shown an interest in areas such as renewable energy, a very challenging
issue in Jamaica. Others have been active in Jamaica, some of them for
many years: water supply (Vinci), gas stations with Total and now Rubis ,
Lafarge (Jamaica Agregates, cement, concrete). The shipping company
CMA-CGM has been in Jamaica for a long time and has for some time
now marked its interest for the modernisation and extension of the
Kingston Container Port Terminal. One branch of the Vinci Construction
Group is interested by the privatisation of the Norman Manley
International Airport in Kingston which is to be divested in the near
future. The French Company, Thales Air Systems is interested in the
installation of new radars for the two Jamaican international airports.
Honourable Minister, at the invitation of the French Minister of Foreign
Affairs Laurent Fabius, you made a working visit in France last month
and reviewed the bilateral ties between France and Jamaica. This was
the first high level meeting between our two countries in many years. It
will undoubtedly strengthen relations at the bilateral and regional levels
and enhance cooperation, trade and investment ties, and open new
areas of cooperation between France and Jamaica, tourism could be one
of these new areas of cooperation and exchange.
In this global, challenging world, where people and governments are
facing longstanding crisis, violence, insecurity, human rights abuses,
specifically on women and children are of great concern, we share a
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common willingness to fight for peace, security, respect of each others.
Let’s continue to build on those common values.
In this important day for the French community and for all our Jamaican
friends again welcome at the French embassy.
At this time, with your permission, I would like to say a few words to my
French fellow citizens:
“L’Ambassade vous remercie de votre fidélité, de votre disponibilité et
vous savez que les portes de cette petite ambassade vous sont toujours
ouvertes. Des changements dans l’organisation de l’ambassade
consécutifs
à
interviendront
la
rationalisation
de
notre
réseau
diplomatique
dans l’année qui vient et vous seront communiqués
prochainement avec toutes les précisions utiles. Comme vous le savez,
la période est difficile et des efforts sont demandés pour que notre pays
soit en mesure de surmonter les difficultés économiques qu’il traverse.
Dans un pays comme la Jamaïque où se manifeste une envie de mieux
connaitre la France, faisons de notre mieux pour renforcer les liens
amicaux qui unissent la France à la Jamaïque ».
Pour conclure, je n’oublie pas d’exprimer mes plus vifs remerciements à
nos sponsors auxquels nous devons d’avoir pu organiser cette soirée.
Special thanks to our sponsors
VINCI Grands Projets
TOTAL Jamaica
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Trans Jamaica Highways
CMA-CGM
J.I.O.
CPJ
WRAY & NEPHEW Ltd and HENNESY
Mes remerciements vont aussi à mes collègues de l’ambassade (Maryse
Malet-Antonique, Salima Amiraly, Monique Kassis, Gwenaelle Huydts,
Eric Koscielny, Patrick Doricic, Karlène Lemaire, Jean-Paul Menoux), et
au personnel de la Résidence de l’Ambassadeur
(Tessa Lafayette,
Georgia Lawrence, Maxine Dunn, Devon Hutchinson, George Cameron)
sans lesquels rien n’aurait été possible et encore une fois bienvenue à
l’Ambassadeur Jean-Michel Despax.
A toutes et tous , une excellente soirée.
Vive l’amitié franco-jamaïcaine, vive la Jamaïque, vive la France.
Let’s raise our glass to the friendship between the people of Jamaica and
France
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