meet the staff
Omar Chedda: The motivated multitasker 2. When and how did you join the PSOJ? I joined the PSOJ in 2008 in keeping with my desire to become more involved in development work that would have a meaningful impact on the local business environment and the country’s growth prospects. 3. What are some of your responsibilities as Energy and Environment Manager? t $PPSEJOBUJOH TUBLFIPMEFS DPOTVMUBUJPOT UP JOnVFODF UIF DPVOtry’s policy framework t %FWFMPQJOH BOE JNQMFNFOUJOH SFMFWBOU DBQBDJUZ CVJMEJOH QSPKects with the assistance of donor funding t 3FTFBSDIJOH BOE BOBMZTJOH UIF SFMFWBOU JTTVFT UP LFFQ UIF NFNbership abreast of the latest developments and possible impacts 4. What is your proudest achievement working for the PSOJ? I would say that this was successfully developing and implementing a regional energy and environment capacity building project funded by the European Union, under the ProInvest facility in cooperation with the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC).
Omar Chedda, Trade and Environment Manager at the PSOJ
1. Tell us a little about yourself. I am the Trade and Environment Manager at the PSOJ. In this capacity, I manage external projects and act as the coordinator for the PSOJ’s Trade Policy and Energy and Environment Committees. This involves coordinating stakeholder consultations and fostering private/public sector partnerships to shape the country’s policy framework. My major responsibilities include: advising on international trade developments and energy and environment issues, and developing and managing capacity building projects to address challenges in these areas. I have represented the PSOJ on an energy and environment investment mission to Belgium and the UK and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Programme in the USA, sponsored by the US State Department. I also participated in training programmes at the London School of Economics; and Georgetown University (Washington DC) on the economics and governance of climate change and multilateral trade issues, respectively. 14
5. What is your main work-related goal for this year and how will you go about achieving it? I have several goals for this year. First, two policy documents addressing trade and energy and environmental issues are expected to be launched by mid-year, which will be used as advocacy tools by the organisation. I also expect to achieve the outputs of a project that I am managing, funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), which seeks to improve Jamaica’s market access to CARICOM and EU markets for goods and services. The project involves workshops to build exporter capacity for intra-regional trade and exporting to the EU; the development of a regional trade database; a trade mission to Barbados and Trinidad and the launch of exporting manuals. Finally, I am committed to ensuring the success of the St James Youth Training and Job Placement Project, which is a component of the EU Banana Support Programme. This project seeks to train about 200 young persons in south St James for employment in the ICT industry, as an alternative to the traditional banana industry due to the fallout resulting from the loss of preferential trading arrangements for banana exports. It will be a challenge working with my counterparts so far away, but hopefully this project, too, will be a great success.