BIOGRAPHY
Terence Raymond Craig was born on November 6, 1974 in Paramaribo, Suriname.
He studied law at the University of Suriname and specialized in international law. He did
special research on free trade and economic integration; A law comparison between the
CARICOM and the EURPEAN UNION. In 1998 he joined the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Republic of Suriname where he gained knowledge and experience about
diplomacy and international relations.
He was professionally trained at the diplomatic academies of Mexico (Instituto Matias
Romero, Mexico City) and the Netherlands (The Clingendael Institute, The Hague) and
the United States Naval Justice School.
In June 2003 Mr. Craig earned a postgraduate diploma in International Relations from the
Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands.
Started as a junior policy-official at the Americas Division of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the republic of Suriname, Mr. Craig steadily built up his diplomatic career.
He served as the Caricom Coordinator at the Americas Division and also as Head of that
same Division. As Head of the Americas division he was responsible for the
implementation of the foreign policy of the Republic of Suriname concerning the
Western-Hemisphere and was also overlooking the implementation of policies and plans
of action regarding Suriname’s further integration into Caricom and South-America.
He advised the Government of the Republic Suriname on various occasions on foreign
policy matters regarding the Hemisphere, especially the Caribbean and South America.
Mr. Craig earned his practical experience through his numerous participations in
international high level meetings often representing the Government or as part of a
Presidential or Ministerial delegation.
These meetings often took him to the Caribbean, South-America, North-America,
Central-America, Asia, Europe and West-Africa and were amongst other held under the
auspices of Caricom, OAS, and U.N and also under the umbrella of technical cooperation
between the Republic of Suriname and like-minded and friendly countries.
During his tenure as head of the Americas division he was also given special assignments
such as, member of the technical expert group to the National Boundaries Commission
and member of the organizing committee for both the 16th Inter-Sessional Caricom Heads
of State/Government meeting and the first encounter between Caricom Heads (as a
group) and the former President of the Federative Republic of Brazil His Excellency Luis
Inacio Lula da Silva, in Paramaribo, Suriname January 2005.
In October 2008 Mr. Craig joined the Organization of American States (OAS) by taking
up his post as OAS representative in Grenada. In his capacity as OAS representative he
worked alongside the Government of Grenada, on numerous projects, such as the
modernization/digitalization of the Civil Registry, digitalization of the Voter Registration
System, drafting of the National Energy Policy, the constitution reform
and execution and monitoring of several projects focusing on sustainable development.
On July 1, 2014 Mr. Craig was transferred to the OAS St. Kitts and Nevis office as the
representative.
Mr. Craig is a native Dutch speaker and speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and German
as well.