Jamaica ready for agri investment

Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke has declared Jamaica ready for agricultural investment as the Government intends to encourage more public- and private-sector participation in an effort to advance the industry.

The minister was speaking Friday at a trade and investment series hosted by JAMPRO at Jamaica House 2012 in London.

Clarke said there are opportunities in Jamaica for substantial investment in agriculture.

"We want to set the right framework so we can encourage public-private sector participation in moving the agricultural sector forward," he said.

The minister said agriculture played a critical role in the country, contributing more than six per cent to the economy and employing some 18 per cent of the workforce. The agriculture minister said the sector could still do much better.

Clarke spoke of the prospects for investment in the 50 per cent of the country's arable land that was currently idle.

"We have the lands, we have the research, and we will put the necessary trade agreements in place to make sure the sector can grow," he said.

Targeting crops

He emphasised that the Government was working to boost local production in a range of traditional crops such as sugar, cocoa, and coffee, while at the same time targeting crops such as ginger, turmeric and pineapple, which have the potential to give Jamaica a distinctive niche market.

The minister also said the Government was in the process of divesting its assets in the coffee and cocoa industry.

At the same time, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Anthony Hylton, said investing in Jamaica has the potential of reaching much larger markets in region.

"The truth is, if you invest in Jamaica, you are not just investing or exporting to the three million Jamaicans who live in Jamaica, but you have access to a tremendous near-shore market. You have access to really an 800-million market in North and South America, and this is by virtue of the many trade agreements that we have negotiated over time," Hylton said.

Pointing to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as an example, Hylton said the agreement represented an exciting new area that would allow investors access to the markets of the European Union.

"The EPA has been negotiated and signed sometime in 2008. The Cabinet has recently taken the decision that notwithstanding some of the challenges posed by that agreement, we will go ahead and begin the implementation," the minister said.

He added: "One of the things that the trade agreement provides is a degree of certainty with regard to market access to all of Europe not just the United Kingdom, but the member states of Europe."