NEARLY 500 delegates began a two-day conference in Kingston yesterday, seeking ways that Jamaicans at home and abroad can strengthen relations to the benefit of both groups.

This conference is the second, following the inaugural event two years ago, and immediately there was a suggestion for the establishment of a Jamaica Fund to help finance projects here.

At the same time, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller announced that she would establish a parliamentary select committee to consider a formula for translating proposals from Jamaicans in the diaspora into national policy.

Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, echoing a proposal previously made by the Government, called for an expansion of the Senate to include representation from Jamaicans living abroad. He said this would allow for more effective involvement of the diaspora in the decision-making process.

BIGGEST BUSINESS

It is estimated that up to 2.5 million Jamaicans and Jamaican descendants live abroad. They annually send home about US$1.5 billion, equivalent to the gross earnings from the country's biggest business, tourism.

Yesterday Phillip Mascoll, president of the Canadian Diaspora, one of the groups established among Jamaicans abroad to press their own issues with Kingston as well as to help protect Jamaica's interests in their host countries, proposed a fund that would enhance the economic impact of Jamaicans abroad.

"We are proposing 'The Jamaica Fund' based on the Israeli model where Jamaicans can contribute on a monthly basis," Mr. Mascoll told the conference.

"There will be a board of directors and it will be fully transparent," he said. "However, this is nothing new, Israel has been doing it for 60 years and it made them great so why not us?"

This, as well as a raft of other issues, demanded the attention of the delegates, who were expected by tonight to issue a work plan for the next two years.