12/10/20

JERSEY: US Ambassador pays visit to develop ties with the Island.

As published on jerseyeveningpost.com, Saturday 10 October, 2020.

THE US Ambassador to the UK visited Jersey in a official capacity this week to develop ties with the Island and to pay tribute to American soldiers who died off its coast during World War II.

It was the first visit to the Jersey for His Excellency Robert Johnson, who held meetings with Chief Minister John Le Fondré, External Relations Minister Ian Gorst and Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham, as well as the Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, and the Lieutenant-Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton.

Areas of discussion included business, cultural and inter-governmental ties between Jersey and the United States.

While in the Island, Mr Johnson laid a wreath at Noirmont to commemorate the lives of 16 US sailors who died during the Second World War II on PT boats 509 and 503 off the coast of Jersey on 9 August 1944.

He also met representatives from Jersey Finance, Digital Jersey, Jersey Business and the Chamber of Commerce, as well as businesses operating in or expanding to the US.

The US is a target market for a number of Jersey businesses in different sectors, with the Island looking to build on existing commercial ties should the UK and US sign a future free-trade agreement in the post-Brexit environment.

Senator Le Fondré said: ‘It was a great pleasure to welcome the US Ambassador, Mr Robert Johnson, to Jersey. This visit gave us the opportunity to discuss how we can continue to strengthen the links between our Island and the USA.’

Senator Gorst added that it was an ‘important and productive visit’ which helped ‘build upon the political and commercial objectives between our jurisdictions’, while Senator Farnham said the ambassador’s visit was a ‘good opportunity to showcase the increasing economic ties between our island and the US.'