welcome you again. It has been since not since 1995, that a prime minister of Jamaica has visited the White House. And so President Joe Biden and I are very honored. And I'm very excited about your presence here today to reaffirm the strength of the relationship between the United States and Jamaica and the Caribbean as a whole, but also on this the 60th anniversary not only of Jamaica's independence, but the diplomatic relationship can make them the United States. As I told the Prime Minister, privately and I will say it again publicly. This is a very important relationship to the United States. We take very seriously our membership in the western hemisphere. And we are acutely aware of the interconnection and interdependence between the United States and Jamaica. As a point of personal privilege. I grew up going to Jamaica, my family, half of my family is from St. Anne's parish, in Jamaica, and I know I've shared that history with millions of Americans. Who have their roots through the generations in Jamaica, in addition to of course, then those people to people ties between the United States and Jamaica. As I said, in context of being neighbors in the Western Hemisphere, we have a long standing strategic relationship. And a diplomatic relationship and a deep historic partnership. And it is in furtherance of that that I'm proud and pleased to announce today three specific initiatives that the Prime Minister and I discussed that are in furtherance of the strength and the importance of that relationship. We talked extensively about the Prime Minister's approach and the need of Jamaica to continue to invest in its prosperity and its economic health and strength. To that end, the United States and I'm announcing today will be investing $20 million to assist in the strengthening and the expansion of Jamaica's commerce in a way that we fully intend will have an impact in strengthening the economy of Jamaica and drive economic growth.
We also recognize just as it has been in the United States, for Jamaica, one of the issues that has been presented as an issue that is economic in the way its impact has been a pandemic. So to that end, we are announcing today also that we will assist Jamaica in COVID recovery by assisting in terms of the recovery efforts in Jamaica that have been essential to I believe what is necessary to strengthen not only the the issue of public health but also the economy. And this is on top of more than what we have done throughout the years since the start the pandemic $12 million in COVID assistance and more than 600,000 vaccinations are vaccines that have been donated. Lastly, but most importantly, a great part of our conversation. Mr. Prime Minister that we appreciate has been about the priority we share for security in the region, as well as Asia prime prevention. So we discussed Of course, the priority that your Government places on both those issues, and we agree that one area of important focus is on youth. And on as you said, the human capital of Jamaica. To that end we have committed and we are announcing now to provide $10 million to target at risk youth in Jamaica through a number of initiatives that we believe will have exponential impact not only on the issue of crime prevention, but what we intend as well, which is to strengthen and as you have described the National Human Capital that exists in Jamaica among young people. And finally, our conversation spans not only those issues, but issues that are about a global significance. And to that end, I thank the prime minister for the leadership that he has offered in the context of votes that have been taken in the United Nations and in terms of Jamaica's strong stand in joining the United Nations and the United States in condemning Russia's aggression in Ukraine. We also discussed quite extensively the impact of the climate crisis on island nations and in particular on Jamaica. We discussed and from my perspective, but I recognize and we recognize that the world's emissions have an outsize effect in the Caribbean, including on Jamaica, and I thank the prime minister for his leadership in that regard. And we are eager to partner with the Prime Minister on what we can do to invest and prioritize climate resilience, but also an investment in renewable energies understanding that this is about energy sources, and it is also about human capital and development and supporting the economy there. So, in conclusion, I will say that the United States and Jamaica continue to be close friends with many, many issues in common, and this partnership is an important one and an enduring one for the United States. And we look forward to strengthening and continuing to strengthen the relationship was Prime Minister again, welcome and thank you.
Thank you, Madam Vice President. Good afternoon, everyone. Ladies and gentlemen. It is a great pleasure to be hosted here at the White House. My team and I are grateful for the very warm reception. We've received. My Vice President from the outset, let me say thank you for the announcements that you have made for support the Jamaican levers of commerce, help them COVID-19 recovery for us very importantly, human capital development, and also for the commitment for further strategic plan as to how Jamaica and the region as a whole can be supported, particularly in transitioning our democracies into prosperous economies. That has been the the essence of our conversation. But a vice president, let me say that you have been a source of inspiration and great triumph for many Carribean of particular, our young women in the region, and we are indeed seeing an increase in the political participation of young women and this diversity in the political space will evolve and well for the for the region. I want to congratulate you on your leadership and your accomplishments. This visit takes place in the context of Jovanka celebrating 60 years of independence. And 60 years of diplomatic relations with the United States was one of the first countries to recognize the independent Jamaica, and we have had a very strong relationship since the United States and America enjoys strong People to People economic and development partnerships. And we're very proud of our continued strong relationship. today. Our discussions reaffirm this strong partnership and we discuss the ways in which this partnership can be strengthened and expanded, but otherwise productive. Jamaica government and people have sacrificed and worked hard to successfully entrench macroeconomic stability and fiscal sustainability and in particular in managing our debt. It is a journey on which the United States has been a very good path through several of your agencies, and indeed various multinational multilateral institutions. Jamaica today is a model of a small open economy, which has transitioned this public financial management into a stable and financially prudent the securities games we must know turn our attention to addressing the vulnerabilities that have been exposed within the context of a pandemic and other global developments, particularly in relation to energy security. In this regard, growth, infrastructure, human development, national security, and as noted in energy security, our areas of priority. We believe these areas also coincide with United States interest in ensuring that the region is secure, peaceful, stable, and prosperous. We are presented an overall plan to secure Jamaica's prosperity and growth and I've provided an outline of how our focused partnership with the US can deliver on the promise of a great future that Jamaica envisions particularly as we heard in
our sixth year of independence. In this regard, Jamaica will redouble our efforts in tackling illegal trafficking and weapons first Mokra scan and other transnational crimes. To address this in a decisive way. We are seeking to foster increased partnerships and collaboration and implementation and intelligence sharing extradition and other law enforcement professionals. On the economic development problem, we reiterated that we would well, we focus attention on Jamaica in areas of security, energy, capacity building, infrastructure, and near shore digital technology box. Vice President I thank you for your time today. And again, welcome. The announcements you have made in support of Japan, Australia, strong and deep relationship with the United States is built on our shared democratic values and principles. It is an enduring relationship forward to working with you to leverage the strength of our partnership to enhance security peace, when the prosperity of the region
