Elizabeth Morgan | Jamaican diaspora – promoting trade and investment

On Monday morning at the 10th Biennial Diaspora Conference, the topic for discussion was investing in Jamaica. Minister of State Alando Terrelonge indicated that the conference was really a trade and investment forum facilitating the making of connections. Representatives at the conference, it was reported, were from 16 countries across North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. It seems the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade reached its target of having 1,000 participants.

The real issue which has been on the table since the Jamaican diaspora engagement commenced in 2004 has been, how can the Jamaican diaspora contribute to growth and development in Jamaica by aiding in expanding investments and exports? In the post-COVID period, this is particularly important as Jamaica continues its recovery and endeavours to build a resilient economy. The International Monetary Fund has projected Jamaica to achieve real growth of 1.8 per cent in 2024. For sustainable growth, Jamaica actually needs to be achieving growth of three per cent or more annually. There are now only six years in which to achieve the country’s development goals set out in Vision 2030 Jamaica, which are linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Recall that trade and investments are critical to implementing these development goals.

In these columns, I have looked at the state of Jamaica’s exports to the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Latin America, within CARICOM, and in Africa and Asia. There is great room for improving Jamaica’s exports of goods and services, and thus for increasing production.

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica reports that the country’s total spending on imports of goods in 2023 was valued at US$7.6 billion, while earnings from total exports of goods were valued at US$2 billion. Jamaica’s goods trade deficit was US$5.6 billion. In tourism, which is Jamaica’s main service export, earnings for 2023 were estimated at US$4.3 billion. It will be noted that Jamaica’s earnings from tourism does not cover its goods deficit. Not much has really changed.

Recall that remittances, which valued US$3.3 billion in 2023, a decline over 2022, are not included as trade. Remittances are only counted in economic growth if they generate productive activities. The trend is that remittances are mainly used for consumption to meet domestic needs.

A critical need would thus be to have members of the Jamaican diaspora increase their engagement in productive activities through investments in sectors, such as agriculture, including agro-processing, and increasing productivity by applying modern, innovative production methods.

DIASPORA INVESTMENTS

A question being posed in some arenas of development studies is, how can the diaspora further aid development in developing countries by being more engaged in productive activities to stimulate growth? In some of these discussions, they are looking at the diaspora communities from countries, such as India, which are quite large and affluent. They are not looking just at first-generation migrants but all those of Indian ancestry which form the Indian community, for example, in the US and the UK.

From estimated official data, as pointed out last week, there are about 1.5 million Jamaicans living outside of the country. If those of Jamaican ancestry are added, the figure would increase considerably as Jamaicans have been migrating for eons. A study done by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) in 2017, titled ‘Economic value of the Jamaican Diaspora: successfully engaging the diaspora’, estimated that Jamaicans in the diaspora were more educated, of higher income, and more able to invest.

The diaspora does invest in Jamaica through savings, stocks and bonds, and real estate. It is known that members of the diaspora have invested in tourism, not only by visiting, but by operating smaller hotels and, to some degree, in agriculture. Of course, there are members of the Jamaica diaspora who have more resources to invest.

In its 2017 study, CAPRI saw a greater potential for the Jamaican diaspora to invest in Jamaica and to participate in increasing exports, with greater involvement in tourism.

The CAPRI study was done seven years ago and a lot has happened since then. We hope that in the investment discussions on Monday, they focused on practical and realistic ways in which the Jamaican diaspora can invest, and at agriculture and other sectors, which could facilitate partnerships/connections. Also, we hope that they addressed the concerns which members of the diaspora had raised in 2017 which included lack of trust, lack of institutional coordination; lack of or unclear information, and lengthy processes and red tape: in brief, addressed the many difficulties which persist in doing business in Jamaica, including the issue of security that accompanies lack of trust.

It was not clear to what extent diaspora investment has increased or declined since 2017, taking account of the COVID-19 pandemic, the various other global economic crises, internal challenges, and changes and differences within the Jamaican diaspora structure.

CAPRI should undertake another assessment, if this is not already a work in progress.

After 20 years, it would be an achievement to learn that diaspora investments in Jamaica’s productive sectors have been increasing, contributing to real growth.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com