Preparations are already underway for Antigua and Barbuda to host a major
conference next year, the 4 th Conference of Small Islands Development States
(SIDS), the largest such gathering the country would have hosted in its history.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has confirmed that preparations have started for the
conference likely to take place at the end of May or early June, next year (2024).
The United Nations Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, Li Junhua was in St. John’s last week along with the country’s
Ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Aubrey Webson, to begin coordinating the
first of several committees that will do the serious work of planning for the event.
Ambassador Webson said meetings have been held with officials of several
ministries and agencies to begin the ‘heavy lifting’ of the planning and organising
of the conference, which is held in a SIDS country once every ten years. He noted
that while it is going to be a huge task hosting the conference, the country is not
daunted by that fact.
“Antigua and Barbuda has had experiences with managing, maybe not a
conference this large, but the kind of management that is responsible for
coordination and logistics around high-level meetings, so we are no stranger to
that. We have been putting in place, working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
a team that I am coordinating and working with in every other ministry,” he
revealed.
Over the past week, meetings have been had with the security services – police,
defense force, and ONDCP – other meetings have been held with the Ministry of
Tourism, and with agencies responsible for public health and protocol, among
other disciplines.
“It is a collaborative national effort and we will bring that together. We are just
beginning to shape the team. The conference is going to be held at the American
University of Antigua at Jabberwock in the new conference centre that they are
currently building. AUA has been very generous to the government in helping to
host and also providing us with their support. The logistics are challenging, but, we
will make it work,” he declared.
On the question of accommodating the delegates, estimated at five thousand,
Ambassador Webson said the conference will take place at the end of the tourist
season next year. However, he noted that it will still need all the available hotel
rooms. He stated that one idea being contemplated is the leasing of a small cruise
ship to provide additional rooms for conference-goers, while docked in the port.
The ambassador is also putting the nation on notice that there will be a huge
economic spin-off from hosting a conference of this size, but there may also be
some inconveniences.
“One thing I would say for people living in the area near to the conference centre is
they may have to endure challenges with traffic, etc. but this will be a major, major
boost to the economy. It will boost the national profile and something about which
all nationals would be proud,” he remarked.
