Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister opened Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean

Port of Spain, May 7- Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar formally opened the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean at The University of the West Indies yesterday at The University Inn and Conference Centre at Circular Road, St Augustine.

The Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean, a joint project between the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UWI, through its Institute of International Relations, is the first of its kind in the Caribbean, UWI said in a statement.

Prof Andy Knight, director of the institute, noted it will reach out to a cross-section of target groups and beneficiaries, beyond the strict confines of CARICOM, to all those involved in one way or the other in international cooperation and transactions.

It will epitomise the modern-day diplomatic academy and provide learning and training, not only to diplomats and national government officials but also much wider audiences, such as other State agencies, NGOs, business and civil society.

“When it is launched in May,” Prof Knight said, “it will meet a clearly felt need, in the absence of any proper training and learning facility regionally, to offer programmes in diplomacy at various levels and on diverse but relevant subjects”.

UWI’s Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean is being established initially on a two-year project basis.

The academy will use new and innovative training techniques in practical, hands-on modules. There will be experience sharing and learning, as well as networking with the best expertise regionally and internationally.