Date:
Thursday, 03 August 2017
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Investment opportunities for Diaspora in agriculture
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Fiscal incentives and the establishment of banana and mixed crop agro-parks are initiatives to encourage Diaspora investment in the agro-business sector. Farming may not be the first investment to come to mind, but with Government initiatives to apply a market development approach to production development and output efficiency, it may be a viable option.
"The sector is opening up numerous opportunities focusing specifically on the value-added component," according to State Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Luther Buchanan.
There are now nine agro-parks in Jamaica. However, further facilities and services are needed such as intermediary agro-processing facilities, post-harvest management and agro-processing. These are areas primed for investment. The government has undertaken a value chain approach to the development of the sector, which is a market system approach to development. In short, the initiatives will enable entities to deliver a product to local and international consumers more efficiently, with a similar or higher quality than competing countries.
Read the full story on our Blog.
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SNAPSHOT: Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference
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The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) sought potential investors for local projects at the 2017 Jamaica Diaspora Conference held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston on July 23- 26. The Agency partnered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to engage the diaspora, promote new and traditional sectors in business, and enable Jamaica's growth opportunities for community and economic development.
The Agency also hosted a panel discussion on July 25 to discuss business opportunities for diaspora members returning to Jamaica. The discussions included Dr. Kingsley Chin, CEO, of KIC Ventures, Mr. Paul Lewis, Director of BnRs (Pedro Plains) and Mr. Oliver McIntosh, CEO of SportsMax.
The agency intends to generate investment and trade interest in the diaspora community by connecting them to key local players and introducing them to diverse trade and investment projects. Emphasising the importance of the diaspora community, JAMPRO President Diane Edwards said the Agency has been engaging members of the diaspora for investment and export opportunities on a sustained basis.
She explained that JAMPRO was keen on connecting the diaspora to viable options for success in Jamaica, and building relationships with those who are interested to bring more business to Jamaica, "Many of Jamaica's most successful and innovative companies are started by members of the diaspora who have returned home full time, or looked for projects to support through investment. We want to encourage more members of the diaspora to take this route, and realize that Jamaica has more to offer than they have previously thought, including opportunities to innovate, share knowledge and build the economy, " she said.
The Jamaica Diaspora Conference provided a useful forum to encourage investment and trade in Jamaican projects and businesses.
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National Competitiveness Council (NCC) aims for Top 10 in Doing Business Report
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The Honourable Daryl Vaz, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, was announced as the new Chairman of the National Competitiveness Council (NCC) on July 21, 2017 in Kingston.
The announcement was made at an NCC meeting held to explore the body's strategy to propel Jamaica into the top ten ranking in the World Bank's Doing Business Report, the authoritative report that captures the performance of 190 countries in their efforts to improve the ease of doing business.
Coming from the NCC's Business Environment roundtable held in April this year, the Council was charged with exploring the reforms necessary to drastically improve Jamaica's ease of doing business to support the Economic Growth Council 's 5-in-4 growth target. The NCC is now performing consultations to create a work plan that will guide Jamaica's performance from its current ranking of 67 to the top 10.
President of JAMPRO, Diane Edwards, noted that she supported the initiative as the Agency sees the improvement of the business environment as key to attracting more investments into the country. "Ease of accessing electricity, credit, development approvals and legal support are all critical areas that are looked at by investors before considering Jamaica for investments," said Ms. Edwards, "We must work towards ensuring that Jamaica is as attractive as possible to both local and international investors. The NCC and JAMPRO will be working to create a strategy to not only improve the business environment, but ensure that this improvement is felt by our international partners and local entrepreneurs."
Read the full story on our website:
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For further information or to schedule interviews on any of the featured stories, email JAMPRO Marketing Communications at marketing@jamprocorp.com .
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