St. George’s (GIS) – Members of the Steering Committee preparing for a major meeting bringing together Grenadians living at home and abroad have expressed satisfaction with a round of discussions just held in Grenada. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is establishing an Office of Diaspora Affairs (ODA) aimed at strengthening ties between Grenadians at home and those based overseas. It’s also to encourage and foster greater participation of Grenadians abroad in all aspects of national development. Through the ODA, an institutional mechanism will be set up to advise on and implement government's policy with respect to the Diaspora. At the moment, however, the focus of the ODA is on a Diaspora Preparatory Conference to be held in Grenada on August 5 and 6. The conference, which is expected to attract about 150 individuals and representatives from Grenadian organisations overseas, so far has been the subject of discussions in metropolitan cities such as New York and Washington. Grenada’s Consul General to New York, Derrick James, and Minster Counsellor, Michael Mitchell, are members of the Diaspora Steering Committee and met recently with Grenadians living in the southern United States. They stopped in Miami on their way to Grenada, where meetings continued with organisations, business leaders, government officials and various individuals. They included Tourism Minister Glynis Roberts; Youth Empowerment and Sports Minister Patrick Simmons; Director of Private Sector Development in the Ministry of Finance Christopher De Riggs; and Rhonna Andrews of the Concessions’ Department of the Finance Ministry. In addition, Consul General James and Mr. Mitchell discussed plans for the Diaspora Preparatory Conference with others such as Acting Director of the Government Information Service Ray Roberts; General Manager of the Grenada Postal Corporation Leo Roberts; Marketing Manager of LIME Vida Singh; and Brenda Baptiste, Marketing and Promotions Manager of Duty Caribbean Holdings. “These meetings are part of an outreach to all Grenadians, to engage them to support the upcoming conference and the Office of Diaspora Affairs with its potential to assist with our country’s national development,’’ said Consul General James. Foreign Affairs Minister, Hon. Peter David, who has repeatedly underscored the importance of the Diaspora to Grenada’s economic development, said the ODA is simply about finding an organic way to further integrate Grenadians abroad in the building process at home. “Just as we are doing now with trying to utilise the resources in our maritime space, we need to find a way to utilise that resource called Grenadians in the Diaspora,” Mr. David said. “We want to engage them in a more organic way. We want to have a two-way arrangement where they can see themselves as integrally involved in Grenada.’’ The outreach by Hon. David and members of the Diaspora Steering Committee, ahead of the Preparatory Conference, will continue with meetings with Grenadians in other places like Toronto, Montreal, London and Trinidad and Tobago. The ODA is also planning to host a Founding Conference next year and a major Homecoming for nationals in 2012.