United Nations, NEW YORK – 20th September, 2023…Prime Minister the Hon. Gaston Browne has expressed his gratitude to the Government of the United Kingdom for setting an impressive example of the type of support the Government of Antigua and Barbuda needs in ensuring that next year’s SIDS4 Conference is a success.
Prime Minister Browne, who is in New York attending the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, had the occasion to extend his appreciation during a bilateral meeting with the UK’s Development Minister the Hon. Andrew Mitchell.
It was one of a series of meetings with top and senior officials in government that occupied the time of Prime Minister Browne during his first day of official meetings of the most important policy making session of the United Nations.
Accompanying him to the bilateral discussion with the senior minister in the UK Government were Minister for Health and the Environment Sir Molwyn Joseph and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the Hon. EP Chet Greene.
The UK Government has not only pledged financial support to Antigua and Barbuda for the May 27-30 SIDS4 Conference, a world gathering of island nations, but is also providing technical expertise on island and at the Antigua and Barbuda Mission in New York which is leading the coordination of the exercise in consultation with the support of the United Nations.
Prime Minister Browne, in recognition of the United Kingdom’s role as a non-borrowing member of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), also took advantage of the opportunity to intercede on behalf of Antigua and Barbuda and other island nations in seeking the UK’s support in debt sustainability considerations for SIDS.
Prime Minister Browne has been persistent in arguing that burdensome and onerous debt only exacerbates the issues of climate change and other threats that stand in the way of Antigua and Barbuda truly achieving sustained economic growth.
