Ambassador Lorne McDonnough (second left), undersecretary for trade in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, presents CARICOM brochures to Kim Isava-Bell, sales manager of SplashJamaica.com, sponsor of the recent Lunch and Learn seminar staged by the Shipping Association of Jamaica on the topic 'The CSME: Implications for the Jamaican Workforce and the Shipping Industry'. Also pictured are seminar panellists (from left) Vivette Grant and Dr. Libuwa Ononju of the Caribbean Maritime Institute, and David Yee Sing, general manager of CMA-CGM (Jamaica) Limited.

Shipping professionals showed keen interest in last week's 'Lunch and Learn' seminar on 'The CSME: Implications for the Jamaican Workforce and Shipping Industry', staged by the Shipping Association of Jamaica (SAJ) and sponsored by SplashJamaica.com.

The seminar was held on Tuesday, April 17 at the SAJ's Newport West offices, and included presentations by Ambassador Lorne McDonnough, undersecretary for trade in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade; Dr. Libuwa Ononuju, dean of studies at theCaribbean Maritime Institute (CMI); Vivette Grant, deputy executive director of the CMI, and David Yee Sing, general manager of CMA-CGM (Jamaica) Limited.

The seminar was opened by Trevor Riley, general manager of the SAJ, and participants were also addressed by Kim Isava-Bell, sales manager of SplashJamaica.com, an Internet-based career network that targets a job-seeker audience throughout Jamaica, the Caribbean and the entire diaspora.

Pivotal role

Last week's seminar focused on the pivotal role Jamaica's shipping industry is already playing in the establishment of the Caribbean Single Market and the opportunities for qualified maritime professionals to benefit from the free movement of labour throughout the region.

The next Lunch and Learn seminar is scheduled to take place at the SAJ offices in Newport West on Tuesday, May 22, and will be on 'The Missing Link in Jamaica's Supply Chain', sponsored by Eagle & Whale and JTS Shipping Jamaica Limited.

The SAJ launched the monthly Lunch and Learn seminars in July 2006 in an effort to raise the awareness of developments in regional and global shipping for stakeholders in the industry.