Above: Antigua’s new diplomatic corps

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Antigua and Barbuda has named a slate of new Ambassadors, the government announced.

Antigua and Barbuda Governor General Dr Rodney Williams announced the apopintments, which include Brian Stuart-Young as Non-Resident Ambassador to China; Gilbert Antoine Boustany as Ambassador at Large/Consul General of Antigua and Barbuda in Miami; Johann Lebrecht Hesse as Ambassador to the African Union and Ernell Casroy James as Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

“Our vision is to transform this country into an economic powerhouse in the Caribbean and we have to make sure that we have the right people in the right places and make sure that we have square pegs in square holes and I am confident that these individuals have the capacity to help move the country forward,” Antigua Prime Minister Gaston Browne said following the announcement. “What we intend to do is to ensure that we integrate our diplomacy with investments and tourism and to have an integrated product that will be superior to our competitors in the Caribbean.”

Browne said the country also planned to appoint a number of “economic envoys” around the world.

“The whole idea is to make sure that we have economic envoys in every single major capital of the world because ultimately we must continue to attract tourists and we must be able to attract investments in a sustainable basis in order to grow the economy,” Browne said. “Our goal is to grow the economy by an average of about five percent per annum and in order for that to happen, one must be very assertive about it, perhaps aggressive and do whatever is necessary to make sure that we grow the country’s economy and create opportunities to put the people back to work so that Antiguans and Barbudans can enjoy living standards second to none.”

Antigua also plans to have a Consul General soon in China, Browne said.