Robertson and MaclureA REGIONAL stock exchange, developing a regional competitive strategy and establishing regional standards, are among the areas of agreement of the over 70 officials from the Caribbean trade and investment community, who participated yesterday's Caribbean Rim Investment Initiative Conference (CRII) at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Jamaica received commendations for its liberalisation of the telecoms sector, which was hailed as an important step on the road to competitiveness, at the Conference which was hosted by the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). The discussions centred on issues related to attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to the region, as well as business environment reports for three pilot countries - the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Jamaica.
Jamaica's Minister of Development, Dr. Paul Robertson, who opened the session, pointed to the World Investment Report 2002, which showed that Jamaica's FDI flows for the year was US$0.7 billion and rising, at a time when global FDI flows are on the decline.
"The Caribbean Rim faces the challenge of making fundamental changes to increase competitiveness and investments to the region," he said.
Dr. Robertson mentioned some of the programmes being pursued by the Jamaican Government to create a more enabling environment for business including The Public Sector Modernisation Programme (PSMP), The Jamaica Legislations and Regulations Process Improvement Project, actualising an integrated approach to governance the concept of "joined-up" Government and the establishment of the Ministry of Development to give substance to the drive towards competitiveness.
The Minister of Development characterised the CRII as one of the major initiatives being pursued by Government to reduce the remaining obstacles to investment and entrepreneurship. It complements other programmes such as the Jamaica Cluster Competitiveness and the New Economy Projects.
"The Conference presents another opportunity for Jamaica and the region to engage the international community not only in dialogue, but in facilitating resources to actively pursue the reform agenda. This is a critical component of the national and regional export competitiveness strategy," he said.
According to Ms. Maxine MacLure, President and CEO of Life of Jamaica of the sponsors, it would be good to see consistency in the regulations across the Caribbean. In terms of the movement of capital, there are competing Stock Exchanges.
"It would facilitate business greatly if we could be listed on one Stock Exchange and be able to trade on the others. Again this suggests the need for consistency in stock exchange regulations and also a single currency," she said.
With the attendance of several Ministers and key decision-makers in the region, the Conference examined areas of concern such as key policy issues for countries in the region, taking stock of the progress being made in terms of a reform agenda and identifying actions necessary to further improve the investment climate and maximise inflows and derived benefits of FDI in the future.
The Dominican Republic report indicated a competitive labour force that is trainable to attract higher value added investments and measures to streamline the opening of business operations, as well as land titling and review of the incentives package.
Costa Rica is positioning itself as a success story of export diversification and investment generation...based on its strategy of optimal insertion in international markets and an aggressive differentiation strategy.
JAMPRO led the discussions on Jamaica's business environment, updating participants on national development strategies, including the economic policy agenda to lower inflation, reduce exchange controls and liberalise trade, essentially eliminating barriers to foreign direct investment. The report also looked at resource allocation, infrastructure development, education and training and confirmed Jamaica as a service oriented economy, with over 63 per cent of total GDP earned in this area, which comprises tourism, technology, mining, manufacturing, textiles and culture (music and film). It was agreed that all Investment Promotion Agencies should seek to show the linkage and measure the economic contribution of investments (direct and indirect).
The Conference was co-sponsored locally by Life of Jamaica Ltd., Capital and Credit Merchant Bank Ltd. and Jamaica Money Market Brokers Ltd. The new countries selected for the pilot business environment reviews are Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherland Antilles and Antigua and Barbuda.
