The Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency A.G. Baly, LL.M., today announced the speakers for the 10 th Annual Governor’s symposium. The notable experts that will address the June 16 th , 2023, event are: Dr. Keith Nurse, the President of the College of Science Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago. He is also the former Principal/CEO of the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College in Saint Lucia. Dr. Nurse has worked as a Senior Economist and Advisor on Structural Policies and Innovation at the OECD Development Centre and is serving his third term as a member of the executive bureau of the UN Committee for Development Policy.
Ms. Clara Reyes, the head of the Department of Culture within the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth
and Sport. Ms. Reyes holds a bachelor’s degree in dance and choreography with a specialization in dance.
She is the co-founder and former co-director of the National Institute of Arts. Ms. Reyes is an
interdisciplinary performing artist that has graced stages in the Caribbean, the U.S., Africa and Taiwan.
The keynote speaker for this year’s symposium is Mr. Felipe Buitrago Restrepo. Mr. Buitrago has 20 years of
experience in the cultural and ICT sectors, having been involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of
policies that aim to develop creative entrepreneurship and appropriation of new technologies. He has held many
positions, including Minister of Culture of Colombia; Vice-Minister of Creativity and Orange Economy (Creative
Industries); Presidential Advisor on Economic and Strategic Affairs; Director of the “TicTac”, think tank of the
Colombian Chamber of Informatics and Telecommunications; Consultant to the Division of Culture, Solidarity and
Creativity of the Inter-American Development Bank; Director of the Ibero-American Copyright Observatory; and
Developing Creative Economies Programme Manager at the British Council in the UK. Mr. Buitrago is also (co)-
author of several books, including The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity. The former Ambassador has
been involved in numerous studies worldwide and has published several articles on the cultural and creative
industries (CCIs), among other things, establishing him as a national and international authority on the creative
industries and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The presentations will culminate in a panel discussion, which will be moderated by Ms. Jennifer Carty. Mrs.
Vincentia Rosen-Sandiford, Director of the Bureau for Intellectual Property Sint Maarten (BIP SXM), will join the
distinguished panel of speakers and give insight into pertinent factors at play in our economy, identify
opportunities and provide policy options that will shape sustainable economic recovery aimed at securing our
socio-economic future.
As a friendly reminder, due to the limited space, the Governor’s Symposium is by invite only. The symposium,
which is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 16, 2023, kicks off promptly at 8:45 a.m., registration
commences at 8:00 a.m.at the auditorium of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in
Cupecoy.
The public can watch the Symposium via a livestream. The livestream will be available to the public from
08:30AM, on Friday June 16, 2023, and can be accessed via the Governor’s Facebook page or Youtube channel
using these links: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Governor-of-Sint-Maarten/570166756411901 or
https://youtube.com/@thegovernorofsintmaarten8632. Furthermore, virtual attendees can be part of the
conversation via www.slido.com. On the slido website, simply enter event code Gov2023 and click join.