Ambassador Byron Blake is an economist with over thirty-five years’ experience working in institution building, policy development and promotion, planning, program and project development and promotion. He has developed projects and programs in agriculture, tourism, maritime and air transportation, energy, technology and the environment.
He pioneered the concept of the “CARICOM Enterprises” which were ventures involving investors from more than one CARICOM Member State, a concept was later generalized into the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.
Ambassador Blake has experience serving on a number of public and private Sector Boards. At the national level, he has served as Chief Planner in the National Planning Agency of Jamaica and as Senior Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica. His regional experience includes a range of positions with the CARICOM Secretariat, from Economist to Senior Management as Assistant Secretary-General, with responsibilities including Regional Trade and Economic Integration, Foreign and Economic Relations, Economics and Industry, and Sectoral Policy and Planning, Economic Research and Policy and Senior Economist for Transportation.
At the international level he has served as the Chief Economic Negotiator for the Group of 77 and China in during Jamaica’s chairmanship of the 130 member grouping and again in during Antigua and Barbuda’s chairmanship of the Group. Negotiations covered a range of issues on economic, trade, finance, development and environment. He also held the rank of Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations for both countries.
Ambassador Blake holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Economics from the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica and a Teachers’ Diploma from the Mico Teachers’ College in Jamaica.