Oversubscribed 11th Jamaica diaspora conference opens in Montego Bay

MONTÉGO BAY, St. James — Delegates from more than a dozen countries filled the Montego Bay Convention Center on Monday, June 16, 2026, for the opening ceremony of the 11th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference, an event organisers said was oversubscribed for the first time in its more than 20-year history.

Under the theme “Diaspora Partnerships: Rebuilding a More Resilient Jamaica,” the gathering comes seven months and 19 days after Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on 28 October 2025 as a Category 5 storm—the strongest on record to make landfall on the island. Officials framed the conference as a platform to channel overseas talent, capital and goodwill into recovery and long-term national development.

More than 1,000 people attended the first day of proceedings on Sunday, with most travelling from abroad. Eighty exhibitors took part in the Jamaica Marketplace, and organisers highlighted new networking tools including an AI Tick Connect platform and NFC/RFID-enabled systems for delegates.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith, Opposition Leader Mark Golding, Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon, and conference chair Earl Jarrett were among those addressing the opening session. Bishop Conrad Pitkin, Custos Rotulorum for St. James, represented the Governor General.

Minister of State Alando Terrelong told the hall that despite geopolitical turmoil, travel pressures and doubts raised only months earlier, Jamaicans abroad rallied around the black, green and gold. Johnson Smith said hotels and short-term rentals were also booked solid, though some registrants could not be seated in person and joined online. She asked delegates to remember Alison Wilson, the former consul general in New York, who died before she could attend.

Jarrett said the diaspora network spans more than 15 countries and likened the gathering to a unified homecoming. He noted the conference grew from a 2003 symposium at the Mona School of Business, with the first full meeting held in 2004. Seven overseas-based Jamaicans from countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China and France received Governor General’s Achievement Awards.

Golding thanked diaspora members as Jamaica’s largest net foreign-exchange earners and an informal social safety net, while urging government to prioritise families still living under tarpaulins in Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Hanover, southern St. James and Trelawny since Melissa. Holness thanked overseas Jamaicans for funding and organising relief within hours of the storm, and cited record-low unemployment near 3.5 per cent and inflation held within the central bank’s four to six per cent target.

A record 21 Day of Service projects are scheduled in parishes hardest hit by the hurricane. Vernon said Montego Bay, as host city, continues rebuilding public infrastructure and restoring community confidence after the 2025 disaster.