Sandra Glasgow appointed as Suriname’s Honorary Consul in Jamaica

Accomplished business tycoon Sandra Glasgow has been appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Suriname in Jamaica.

Glasgow’s new role pushes her to work on enhancing trade and investment relationships between the two nations of Jamaica and Suriname, along with strengthening understanding, communication and familiarity between them. In a press conference, Glasgow said, “Despite the distance and language differences between Jamaica and Suriname, our shared CARICOM bond and the vibrant spirit of our people are a solid foundation for greater understanding and cooperation. My intention as Honorary Consul is to embrace these opportunities to enrich our trade, investment, and cultural ties.” She has expressed a heavy emphasis on angel investing, seeing that the strategy has proven to be greatly beneficial to the Caribbean region by bringing in capital, support, innovation, expertise, job creation and economic integrity.

She goes on to say, “Successful angel investments can attract further investment from venture capital firms and other institutional investors, both locally and internationally. This not only injects more capital into the economy but also enhances its reputation as a favourable destination for investment.”

Suriname gained its independence in 1975, their top exports include gold, metal scraps, refined petroleum, rough wood, bananas and bauxite. Recognising that Jamaica lacks active angel investor networks, she co-founded FirstAngelsJA and is also the managing director of RevUP Caribbean Limited.

Both these ventures aim to train, finance and guide Caribbean start-up companies. Outside of these ventures she has actively been involved in promoting entrepreneurship and empowering women in business.

Glasgow’s contributions have made strides in the region, solidifying her legacy for the betterment and development of the Caribbean’s economic involvement. She has worked on collaboration and cooperation initiatives throughout the region before being awarded her position.

Jamaica and Suriname have shared historical ties paving the way to the strong diplomatic relations they enjoy today; while their economic ties haven’t been as comparatively strong as other nations in the region, there has been a push to counter that for several years.

Both being members of CARICOM ensures an underlying unity behind all their affairs; their geographical positioning suggests that they have many shared interests and goals, such as regional security, climate change, sustainable development, cultural preservation and so on.

When given the certificate of appointment on January 17, 2024, she took to LinkedIn and shared an image of her alongside Minister Albert Ramdin, who has been serving as a Surinamese diplomat (Minister of Foreign Affairs) in the Santokhi Cabinet since July 2020; he was also one of the first officials to publicly condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.