Bernal on his way to for Washington...again

From: Subject: Bernal on his way to for Washington...again - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM Date: Thu, 8 May 2008 00:25:55 -0400 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; type="text/html"; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00BA_01C8B0A2.14651AE0" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_00BA_01C8B0A2.14651AE0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20080506T230000-0500_135327_OBS_BERNAL_ON_HIS__WAY_TO_FOR_WASHINGTON___AGAIN.asp Bernal on his way to for Washington...again - = JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM Ambassador Dr Richard Bernal is on his way back to = Washington, this time to take up an executive position at the = headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)."=20 name=3Dabstract>

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Bernal on his way to for=20 Washington...again

Wednesday, May 07, = 2008

Bernal... was the = principal=20 negotiator for the Forum of Caribbean States = (CARIFORUM)=20 during the negotiations of the Economic Partnership = Agreement=20 with the European Union which were concluded in = December, 2007=20 after four years of tortuous=20 negotiations

Ambassador Dr = Richard Bernal is=20 on his way back to Washington, this time to take up an = executive=20 position at the headquarters of the Inter-American = Development Bank=20 (IDB).

Bernal, who served as = Jamaica's=20 ambassador to Washington for ten years, resigned from the = post of=20 director general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating = Machinery=20 (CRNM), from which he was lead negotiator for the Economic=20 Partnership Agreement, the new trade package linking Europe = and its=20 present and former colonies in the African Caribbean and = Pacific=20 (ACP) states. The resignation becomes effective June 30, = 2008.

A professional = economist with over=20 35 years of experience, Bernal joined the CRNM on September = 1, 2001=20 succeeding Sir Sridath Ramphal. For almost seven years, he = provided=20 overall direction to the CRNM, supervising a staff of = technical=20 experts and trade specialists operating from Kingston, = Jamaica;=20 Bridgetown, Barbados; Castries, St Lucia; Brussels, Belgium = and=20 Geneva, Switzerland.

He was the principal = negotiator for=20 the Forum of Caribbean States (CARIFORUM) during the = negotiations of=20 the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union = which=20 were concluded in December, 2007 after four years of = tortuous=20 negotiations.

Dr Bernal, known to = colleagues and=20 associates as an affable and skilful negotiator, was head of = the=20 CRNM technical teams advising the Caricom delegations at the = WTO=20 ministerial meetings in Cancun and Hong Kong and FTAA = ministerial=20 fora. He was the point person of external trade for=20 Caricom/CARIFORUM in numerous discussions with prime = ministers,=20 presidents, ministers and heads of the WTO, World Bank, and = the IDB=20 which has now grabbed his services.

Through his advocacy = and=20 publications, he advanced policy on special and differential = treatment and small developing economies in trade = agreements. He was=20 the first chair of the Working Group on Small Economies of = the FTAA=20 and Caricom's lead negotiator in the Free Trade Area of the = Americas=20 (FTAA) negotiations.

Previously, he was = chief executive=20 officer of a commercial bank and served in various = capacities in the=20 Bank of Jamaica, the Planning Agency/Institute and the = Ministry of=20 Finance. He taught international economics and development = economics=20 at the University of the West Indies for seven years.

Ambassador Bernal holds = the degrees=20 of BSc, MA, PhD (Economics) and MIPP (International Public = Policy).=20
"For 10 years, Dr Richard Leighton Bernal, a man born, = it would=20 seem, to the service of his country, worked the corridors of = world=20 power in Washington and held the Jamaican flag high as = ambassador to=20 the United States," said an Observer writer of Bernal. "He = walked=20 among the high-powered diplomats as if he were from the = biggest and=20 richest country on earth and earned a respect well beyond = the size=20 and population of this small island. In the global scheme of = things,=20 trade-offs were the order of the day and those who could not = play=20 the game would be left behind. Bernal brought Jamaican = intellect and=20 energy, articulation, charm and a sunny personality that = kept=20 Jamaica solidly in the mix. If it was egg, Jamaica was in = the=20 red.

"It would earn him the = gratitude of=20 a nation and nothing less than the country's fourth highest = honour,=20 the Order of Jamaica (OJ)," the writer noted.

Serving from 1991 to = 2001, Bernal=20 stayed longer in the job than any other Jamaican.

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