Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness Before Their Meeting

PRIME MINISTER HOLNESS:  Secretary, though we have met so may times before, I have not had the privilege to say welcome to Jamaica.

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER HOLNESS:  And we are very, very pleased to have you here today.  Many important matters to discuss – Haiti high on the agenda, but of course there are bilateral issues which we will discuss.  The United States continues to be a very strong partner, development partner for Jamaica.  We have very strong ties culturally, economically, to people-to-people.  We value those ties and we look forward to the conversation which will go on (inaudible).

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Prime Minister, thank you very much.  It’s wonderful to be here in Jamaica, to be back in Jamaica.  I’ve been here a number of times in the past but not in this – not in this job.  It was so good to have you in Washington (inaudible).  I think today’s meeting on Haiti is so critical.  Bringing CARICOM together is a testament to Jamaica’s leadership – leadership in the hemisphere that we share, leadership at a critical moment, a critical moment for Haiti but also a critical moment for all of us.

But as you said, we also have many important issues on our bilateral agenda.  For us, Jamaica is a critical partner – an economic partner, a security partner, and a diplomatic partner.  And so the opportunity today as well to work through and talk through some of those issues is very, very valuable.  And as you said, the ties between our countries every single day are extraordinary.  There are millions of Americans of Jamaican descent.  Every day (inaudible) our country and carry it forward.  We’re so grateful for that, but especially the day-in, day-out work that our countries do together that we want to deepen and strengthen.  I’m grateful, Prime Minister, to you for your leadership and for bringing all of us together today on (inaudible) and we hope progress will be made on this.  Thank you.