President of the Shipping Association of Jamaica, Harry Maragh (right), leafs through the Memorandum of Understanding signed recently at the Office of the Prime Minister. Others looking on (from left) are Dr. the Hon. Paul Robertson, Minister of Development; Hon. Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology. THE SHIPPING Association of Jamaica was one of the core partners to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Jamaica Trade Point, an initiative seeking to make businesses more competitive and to facilitate trade transactions on-line.
Other signing partners were the Ministry of Finance and Planning - Jamaica Customs, the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology - Trade Board, the Ministry of Development - JAMPRO as well as the Port Authority of Jamaica. The MOU, which establishes the framework for support/involvement of the partners, was signed on Wednesday (June 4) at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in Kingston.
TRADE-RELATED
TRANSACTIONS
Jamaica Trade Point is Jamaica's trade facilitation portal, where exporters and importers can carry out trade related transactions with the relevant organisations "on-line" and in a seamless manner. The services also offer the convenience of on-line payment and for example, Customs duties and user fees can now be paid on-line. In the initial phase, Jamaica Trade Point includes the on-line processing of:
Customs import and export forms (C78 and C82);
The Trade Board's applications for licenses and export certification;
JAMPRO's Exporter Registration System; and
The Shipping Association of Jamaica's E-Manifest.
The Jamaica Trade Point portal, will along with the developments at the ports, further facilitate and attract investments, as it will demonstrate to the world that Jamaica is open for business and is technologically ready for global trade. It will, therefore, enhance economic activity and impact the country's bottom line positively.
The business model of Jamaica Trade Point is inspired by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's (UNCTAD) 1-2-3 model for trade efficiency, where partners in the five sectors that offer critical services to the exporting community are integrated under "one virtual roof". The sectors include trade facilitation, business information, transportation, banking and insurance and Information and Communication Technologies, with the latter as the vital platform on which the others operate.
The Jamaica Trade Point project is one example of a public/private sector e-facilitation initiative and over time will be expanded to include other services in the trade value chain.
