Jamaica ready to ‘swim 1,000 kilometres’
PM says nation set to take advantage of upcoming investment opportunities
Published:Wednesday | June 15, 2022 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
PRIME MINISTER Andrew Holness says that Jamaica is ready to take advantage of potential upcoming investments in the Caribbean region, including those tied to the expansion of special economic zones that are expected to boost the economy and create opportunities for local entrepreneurs.
He made the declaration on Tuesday during his keynote address on the second day of the eighth Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James.
“Just last week at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, I met with most of the world leaders of this hemisphere, and heard from the Inter-American Development Bank how nearshoring and friendly shoring will attract more than US$78 billion of new investments and exports, which will create more than four million direct jobs. Needless to say, Jamaica is actively positioning itself to take advantage of this new wave of investment projected for the region,” said Holness.
The prime minister noted that Jamaica is throwing its support behind the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) declaration of special economic zones (SEZ), or free zones, as a powerful economic tool for countries to wield in the aftermath of the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Out of the approximately 7,000 SEZs which now operate worldwide, Jamaica has over 160 established locally since 2018. The Government is currently in the process of developing a new free zone, the Caymanas Special Economic Zone in St Catherine, which will be built on 650 acres of land with links to the port of Kingston.
“Undoubtedly, UNCTAD’s initiative to declare free zones as the most powerful tool that countries have for post-COVID-19 economic recovery has a powerful ally in Jamaica. We have a robust and well-established regulatory and fiscal regime for SEZs, and we have a track record of large public-private partnerships,” said Holness.
“We were having an interesting conversation yesterday (Monday) with Dr Mohammed Al Zarooni (chairman of the World Free Zones Organisation), and he said when you are setting goals, they must be aspirational and ambitious, but they must also be realistic, and he gave the example of a man in the middle of the sea who was 1,000 kilometres away from land … but you know, if the man did not swim, he would have died, and it is better to die trying. So, Jamaica is going to swim that 1,000 kilometres to the nearest shore,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a brief address to Tuesday’s session, Al Zarooni noted that free zones are now branching out to provide a wide variety of employment opportunities.
“Free zones have not limited themselves to traditional labour-intensive industries, providing job opportunities for the rank and file, but have expanded into more high-tech and knowledge-based industries. Free zones are now providing sophisticated job opportunities for the future generation,” said Al Zarooni.
The AICE 2022 conference, which is under way until June 17, is being held in conjunction with the first annual Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones Conference and is the first major conference to host international dignitaries since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Over 750 attendees participated in the conference’s opening session on Monday.