Speeches by the Prime Minister

Speaking Notes for the Most Honourable Andrew Holness Prime Minister of Jamaica Press Statement: Meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Wednesday, March 26, 2024  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good afternoon, It is my great pleasure to welcome United States Secretary of State, the Honourable Marco Rubio, to Jamaica. I have known Secretary Rubio for some time, and I have always been impressed by his deep knowledge and understanding of the region.  Secretary Rubio, we are deeply honoured that you have chosen Jamaica as your first official stop in the English-speaking Caribbean. This visit so early in your term confirms the strength of the historic friendship and strategic partnership between Jamaica and the United States—one built on shared values, democratic ideals, and deep people-to-people ties. Our nations have long been united by a common commitment to freedom, prosperity, and security, and your visit today reaffirms that bond. Today, we engaged in productive and constructive discussions focused on strengthening this partnership and expanding opportunities for collaboration. During our meeting, we addressed several critical areas of cooperation: Security: We reaffirmed our commitment to enhancing cooperation in combating transnational crime, ensuring the collective safety of our citizens and mutually secured borders. We discussed a Global…

Keynote Address By Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Launch of Infiniti Co-operative Credit Union Jamaica Limited On February 25, 2025 _______________________________________  Executives and members of the Jamaica Cooperative Credit Union, Other special guests, Representatives of the private sector and public sector bodies, Representatives of the media, Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. What a joy and privilege it is to be here with you this afternoon as we celebrate a historic milestone, the official launch of Infiniti Co-operative Credit Union Jamaica Limited. This momentous occasion marks the coming together of two exceptional institutions, Educom Co-operative Credit Union and Gateway Co-operative Credit Union whose shared vision and dedication have given rise to something truly extraordinary.  Infiniti represents more than just a name, it symbolizes limitless potential, boundless opportunities, and a future where every member has the tools to thrive. I might steal that name, Infiniti. Today, we celebrate not just a merger, but the beginning of a new journey, one built on strength, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to financial inclusion and empowerment. As we celebrate this occasion, let us take a moment to honour the rich history of the credit union…

Statement By Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM On February 19, 2025 _______________________________________ First, let me say thanks to your government and the people of Barbados for the excellent arrangements and hospitality. My own view, Mayor, is that the meeting went very well. And I join with my brother Irfaan in filing a claim to your Labour Department for having us work till one o'clock in the morning but it was all good for the people of the region and I believe the people of CARICOM can feel confident in the leadership. The issues that were addressed were relevant issues, issues for the development of the region and we grappled with them in real ways to seek solutions. One area of grave concern would be the declared change in US trade policy. Many businesses have reached out, the private sector is indeed concerned. I believe that the posture of CARICOM is that we must be prepared. We can't approach this with any panic, and we should also accept that with these changes, the concern shouldn't only be that there…

Keynote Address By Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica  at the 2025 National Security Seminar On February 6, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We're too late in the year for me to wish you a happy new year, but I wish you, nonetheless.  And I thank our moderator and those who have spoken before me for greeting everyone. This is the third year that I've had the privilege of delivering this keynote at this important seminar and I commend the Office of the National Security Advisor for consistently bringing together the minds working on what is arguably the most pressing national issue.  The theme of this seminar, "Security Without Borders: Aligning Local, Regional, and International Efforts to Build a Resilient Future", encapsulates the fundamental reality that the major security threats we face are not confined to national borders. They are transnational, requiring cooperative and often coordinated solutions that transcend borders, ideologies, and institutional silos. Jamaica, like many of our Caribbean neighbours, faces the acute threat posed by organized crime, which is responsible for the extraordinarily high murder rate with which we have lived for decades. This problem was initially made worse and has been amplified by…

Keynote Address By Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists Religious Liberty Summit On January 30, 2025 _______________________________________  Protocols have been well established, but allow me to acknowledge the leader of the opposition, our cabinet secretary, ministers, members of parliament, senators who are here, Dr Adlai Blythe, Treasurer of the Jamaica Union of Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Bishop Michael Smith, Chairman of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches, specially invited  Pastor Nelu Burcea from as far as Romania; welcome,  Associate Director of Religious Liberty  Department Adventist World Church,  members of the media, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, all. Allow me to repeat my earlier wish for you, a happy, peaceful, prosperous, productive and victorious 2025. Good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to join you at this important gathering dedicated to advancing religious liberty in Jamaica. I extend my warmest greetings to the leadership and membership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, as well as to representatives from other faith communities, trade unions, businesses and civil society. It is indeed an honour to address you on this significant occasion as we observe the theme "Fostering Unity: Respecting…

Greetings By Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At Heal the Family, Heal the Nation On January 8, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you, Custos Pitkin. Let me acknowledge my colleagues in the Cabinet, Minister Chuck and Samuda, MP Robert Miller, Mayor Swaby. And allow me to return the wish of blessing to the leader of the opposition and to my good friends Bishop Delford Davis and his wife for putting on and organizing this event. I was reflecting that I've been to possibly more than 10 of these events. It's been a little while and it is always, for me, the best way to start the new year. Allow me to acknowledge Reverend Courtney Gordon, Chairman of the Jamaica Umbrella Group of Churches and other leaders of the faith community, locally and internationally, who are attending this event and to you, the important people in the room, the people who make it happen. As we assemble for the 5th gathering of the National Day of Prayer, we also mark the 19th year of the Heal the Family, Heal the Nation service; this is our fixture on the annual calendar. And as I said, I've…

As we welcome 2025 with all the new opportunities and possibilities it promises, we give God thanks for sparing our lives to see yet another year and we spare a thought for those who left us in 2024. 2024 tested our resilience, but it also revealed our strength. We faced challenges with courage and celebrated achievements with pride. Category 4 Hurricane Beryl badly damaged southern parishes, however we staged the fastest and most comprehensive recovery from a weather event of that magnitude in Jamaica’s history. Within weeks of the disaster your government was able to conduct assessments rapidly and distribute recovery grants of significant amounts. To date just under 14,000 cheques have been delivered to beneficiaries. There is no question that this administration has had to deal with some of the greatest crises and shocks to have impacted the country in the last 100 years. Pandemic, Global Inflation and Supply Chain Crisis, Climate Change generated crises and associated Hurricanes, Tropical Storms, Flooding and Drought. Any truthful observer must admit that we have handled these crises comparatively better than previous governments and on par if not better than governments of peer countries regionally and even globally.  We can be certain that…

Keynote Address By Dr. The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP Prime Minister of Jamaica At the Morant Bay Urban Centre Stakeholders Engagement On November 13, 2024 _______________________________________   Thank you very much, Madam Director of Protocol and Master of the Ceremonies. First of all, let me thank all of you for coming out. The weather threatened to derail this event, but God has other plans and he understands the objective of what we are trying to achieve. Let me thank the Minister's fraternal who prayed for us an earnest prayer for our safety, but also for our welfare and well-being. These are not ordinary times. We are living in a time of great change. Globally, you see wars and rumours of wars. You see great human suffering all over but it is also a time of great opportunities; the rapid change in technology, the growth of nations and economies but we also see the changing climate. We are having hurricanes and tropical storms when in our lifetimes, we never experienced them with so much intensity and frequency and so for little Jamaica, we can't just say that things will happen to us and we can't do anything about…