News Releases

UWI Diplomatic Academy Training Boosts exporTT’s Commercial Diplomacy Capacity

For Release Upon Receipt - September 28, 2022

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago. Wednesday September 28, 2022 – ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago.– The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean (DAOC) recently supported commercial diplomacy capacity development in exporTT, with the successful delivery of a five-day long online training module on Protocol and Diplomacy: A Guide for the Modern Professional. Developed in close consultation with and designed for exporTT, which is the national export facilitation organization of Trinidad and Tobago, the module took place on September 6th, 8th, 13th, 15th and 20th. A total of 16 exporTT employees took part in the training, which was facilitated by Ms. Gail Guy – a retired Trinidad and Tobago diplomat and protocol consultant.  

“We are delighted the Diplomatic Academy, which has a long and proven track record of training in the subject area of this customized module, contributed to skills development among the staff of exporTT,” said the DAOC Manager, Dr. Nand C. Bardouille. He noted, “While the Diplomatic Academy has in place a set academic curriculum each academic year, it is committed to partnering with institutions to design cutting-edge, in-house diplomatic training on demand. That exporTT vested the DAOC with the responsibility of providing specialized training covering the traditions and current practice of protocol, diplomacy and business etiquette – in line with exporTT’s mandate – is indeed an honour and a privilege.”    

In commenting on the significance of the training for exporTT, Ms. Guy underscored: “It is extremely important when doing any business that individuals do the preparatory work to assure optimal success. That preparation goes beyond the technical (hard) skills and this is where a programme such as this one complements the skills base of business leaders in all fields and especially in the area of promoting exports because of the international nature of the activity.” The incorporation of two experts’ roundtables was a perfect complement to Ms. Guy’s course-related teaching, not least because it lent to real-world perspectives being weaved into and used to enunciate core themes of the module. The first roundtable took place on September 8th. It focused on ‘The Relevance of Diplomacy in Market Access and the need for National Agencies to ensure that their needs are Imbedded, ab initio, in National Negotiating Positions’, featuring four panelists as follows:

•   Mr. Leo Naut, Deputy Executive Director, Caribbean Export Development Agency (and moderator of the roundtable)

•   Ambassador Wayne McCook, Assistant Secretary-General, Single Market and External Trade, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat

•   Dr. Mahindra Ramdeen, Chief Executive Officer, Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA)

•   Ms. Vashti Guyadeen, Chief Executive Officer, Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Service Industries (TTCSI)

The second roundtable took place on September 20th. It focused on ‘The Cultural and Intercultural Communication Aspects of Business Etiquette: Doing Business in Latin America’, featuring three panelists as follows:

•   His Excellency Gerard Greene, Ambassador for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the Federative Republic of Brazil (and moderator of the roundtable)

•   His Excellency Wellington Darío Bencosme Castaños, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

•   Ms. Rosa Carolina Garzon, Representative of Procolombia for the South East Caribbean and Trade Attaché of the Embassy of the Republic of Colombia in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago

In remarks delivered at the module’s closing ceremony, as the feature speaker, Mr. Naut recalled the context of the customized module by emphasizing that: “In this era of globalization, export promotion and inward investment promotion are completely interlinked.” He contended that Caribbean economic operators, as well as the institutions which support enterprises, ought to be seized of the “full set of tools for commercial diplomacy driven by close nation-state/business collaboration and diplomatic support for international business.” In this regard, Mr. Naut said, “Commercial diplomacy should be treated as one of the most important components of overall diplomacy.” The General Manager of Operations at exporTT, Mrs. Maria Padilla-Benjamin, delivered remarks on behalf of course participants. Mrs. Padilla-Benjamin relayed that the customized module came in for high praise, while indicating further participants will put their new skills to use immediately. In this regard, she called attention to upcoming trade missions.   

END 

About the Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean

The DAOC is the Caribbean's premier professional development-oriented diplomatic studies centre. An integral part of The University of the West Indies’ Institute of International Relations (IIR), it was established in 2014. The DAOC has a primary teaching mandate in the area of diplomatic studies, offering short, highly specialized training modules in the broad field of diplomatic studies. For Caribbean professionals seeking to expand their capabilities to advance an international career, the DAOC is a trusted educational partner. Combining a world-class suite of curricular offerings, which align with topical policy and learning trends, with a programme of advocacy and partnerships regarding the relationship between diplomacy and the Caribbean, the Diplomatic Academy provides a unique setting for stakeholders to deepen diplomatic skills/knowledge and enhance policy expertise.

The DAOC has yielded substantial and complementary benefit to the IIR, which was established in 1966 by agreement between the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and the Government of Switzerland.

Integral to the DAOC's mission is its commitment to help close human resources capacity gaps in international affairs and diplomacy in the Caribbean, by providing capacity-building and skills development training in diplomacy to up and coming diplomats and to aspiring diplomats from the Caribbean Region. This diplomatic learning and training facility also strengthens the University's capacities for research/analysis, knowledge‐sharing, advocacy, and partnerships and dialogue on the relationship between diplomacy and the Caribbean broadly conceived, with the goal of helping to facilitate policy-relevant awareness-raising on international affairs issues of import (and that are topical) to the Region.

The Diplomatic Academy derives its character from its global outlook, real-world impact, and Caribbean mindedness which, in sum, constitute The DAOC Advantage™. For more information, please visit:  https://sta.uwi.edu/daoc.

About The University of the West Indies

The UWI has been and continues to be a pivotal force in every aspect of Caribbean development; residing at the centre of all efforts to improve the well-being of people across the region.

From a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948, The UWI is today an internationally respected, global university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and its Open Campus, and 10 global centres in partnership with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.

The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Culture, Creative and Performing Arts, Food and Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology, Social Sciences, and Sport. As the Caribbean’s leading university, it possesses the largest pool of Caribbean intellect and expertise committed to confronting the critical issues of our region and wider world.

The UWI has been consistently ranked among the top universities globally by the most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education (THE). In the latest World University Rankings 2022, released in September 2021, The UWI moved up an impressive 94 places from last year. In the current global field of some 30,000 universities and elite research institutes, The UWI stands among the top 1.5%.

The UWI is the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists since its debut in the rankings in 2018. In addition to its leading position in the Caribbean, it is also in the top 20 for Latin America and the Caribbean and the top 100 global Golden Age universities (between 50 and 80 years old).  The UWI is also featured among the leading universities on THE’s Impact Rankings for its response to the world’s biggest concerns, outlined in the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including Good Health and Wellbeing; Gender Equality and Climate Action.

For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

 

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