Minister with responsibility for sport, Natalie Neita-Headley, in Glasgow yesterday with athlete Warren Weir and Jamaica Olympic Association president, Mike Fennell. - Ricardo Makyn

GLASGOW, Scotland:

Minister with responsibility for sport, Natalie Neita-Headley, believes Jamaica will once again host the Commonwealth Games and is excited about a recently signed sport related bi-lateral agreement with the Government of South Africa.

Neita-Headley, who attended a meeting of sports ministers from Commonwealth nations ahead of today's start of the 20th edition of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, also gave a synopsis of the matters which were discussed while lauding the organisers for what she deemed a well-organised games.

Speaking on Jamaica's close ties to the Commonwealth Games dating back to 1966 when it hosted the multidiscipline event and Jamaica Olympic Association boss Mike Fennell's term as president, the minister underscored her desire to see the games return to the Caribbean island.

"I still believe that there will be a day in the near future where we will host again and we will continue to work to ensure that we are upgrading our sporting infrastructure and developing the capacity to host these games," Neita-Headley told STAR Sports, shortly after visiting the Jamaican team at the Athletes Village.

"We certainly have the talent, we certainly have the human resources, there are some areas that we will be improving on because I believe that Jamaica has to capitalise on all aspects of sports and all that is to be derived from it," she added.

Jamaica and South Africa have also tightened their sporting ties and will be collaborating through partnerships in an effort to share expertise and develop each nation's sporting performance.

"We also got an opportunity to sign the bilateral agreement between ourselves and South Africa," Neita-Headley said. "That has been in the works for a little while and we look forward to deepening that relationship and ensuring that we are able to strengthen each others' sporting programmes in our respective countries."