St Thomas is open for business ... Parish gets pass mark at European Business Assembly
Published:Tuesday | December 15, 2015 | 12:00 AM
MORANT BAY, St Thomas:
The European Business Assembly (EBA) has recently passed St Thomas as an attractive and fit parish for business investments.
The EBA is an international corporation of social partnership which aims to develop and promote social and economic links between companies and investors worldwide.
Last month, two members of the St Thomas Parish Council attended an EBA forum in France to make a presentation which highlights the parish's strengths and potential for investments.
One of the attendees, Hubert Williams, chairman of the Finance and Commercial Services at the St Thomas Parish Council, told The Gleaner that they were rewarded with a flag and certificate which signifies that the parish is an emerging destination for investments.
Potential highlighted
"Our presentation highlighted our potential where aggregates and other essential minerals are concerned. For example, we know that St Thomas produces the most aggregates in Jamaica. However, because of poor engineering capabilities, meaning a lot of the plants are outdated and things like that, we are unable to perform at our best. If investors come in that are willing to invest in the area and maximise the capital, then this industry would be able to employ a lot more people and we would be able to benefit from it even more," said Williams.
He added: "Other areas we looked at was our eco-heritage tourism, as we know we have many heritage sites and stuff like that. For example, the John Crow Mountains was recently declared a world heritage site." He noted that the presentation was well received by the EBA.
Williams was accompanied by the secretary/manager of the St Thomas Parish Council, Errol Greene.
Both men were congratulated by the parish's mayor and fellow councillors.
Williams said the presentation is now in the database of the EBA where prospective investors can access on a day-to-day basis.
"What we plan to do now is keep highlighting our potential and let the world know that St Thomas is open for business. Also, we will continue to work with our stakeholders, like the police, to ensure that the crime rate is maintained at a level where we won't scare away prospective investors. But overall, I think we have been doing well over the last couple of years. We've been highlighting the parish well and we are trying to ensure that our parish has a very positive outlook because we know the potential for investment in St Thomas is great. It is among the best in the country," Williams said.