Elizabeth Morgan | Jamaica/India relations: Promoting trade and investment

This week, Prime Minister Andrew Holness became the first Jamaican prime minister to pay an official visit to India. He is visiting from September 30 to October 3 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the aim of strengthening relations between the countries.

India, a member of the BRICS alliance, is intent on strengthening its economic and political relationship with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

As Prime Minister Holness is visiting, it was noted that the Indian Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs and Textiles, Pabitra Margherita, will be on a nine-day official tour from September 30 to October 8 in LAC. He is visiting Mexico, Grenada, Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda.

Since 2021, there has been focus on India’s relationship with LAC, and with CARICOM countries, including Jamaica. Then President of India, HE the Hon Ram Nath Kovind, visited the CARICOM region from May 15-21, 2022, making a state visit to Jamaica and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The fourth meeting of foreign ministers of CARICOM and India was held in Georgetown, Guyana, on Saturday, April 22, 2023.

My article of May 18, 2022, titled ‘Strengthening CARICOM/India Relations’, gives the history of these meetings and the establishment of the CARICOM/India Joint Commission. CARICOM and India also had a Heads of Government Summit in 2019 in New York. The 9th India-LAC Conclave was held in New Delhi, August 3-4, 2023. Prior to this, the Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, visited several countries in the LAC region.

This visit by Prime Minister Holness focuses on the bilateral relationship between Jamaica and India. The countries’ relationship has a long history. Jamaica and India were members of the British Empire and, beginning in 1845, while both territories were facing difficult economic situations, over 36,000 people from India came to Jamaica as indentured labourers. The programme ended in 1917.

Since 1995, Jamaica has commemorated May 10, the date of the arrival of the first 200 Indian indentured workers, as Indian Heritage Day. Indian ethnicity has certainly been integrated into Jamaica. Indian immigrants are still coming into the country. In 2022, the Indian High Commission commemorated Indian Diaspora Day.

Both India and Jamaica are members of the Commonwealth. They established diplomatic relations in 1962. India has had a high commission in Jamaica from 1976. Jamaica established a high commission in New Delhi in 2020. Jamaica has significant technical cooperation with India. Areas for growth would be trade in goods and services, and investment.

TRADE IN GOODS

In my article of September 23, 2020, I looked at the trade between CARICOM countries and countries in Asia, including India. India could be a significant market, with a population of 1.4 billion and robust growth in gross domestic product (GDP) which is projected to decrease slightly to about seven per cent in 2024-2025. India is now the world’s fifth largest economy.

In 2023, the trade figures from India indicate that India exported US$105 million in goods to Jamaica and imported goods valued at US$7 million, giving India a significant trade surplus of US$98 million.

There is room here for Jamaica to explore increasing goods exports to India.

TRADE IN SERVICES

Available information reports that there was hardly any trade in services between Jamaica and India between 2022 and 2023.

In tourism, Jamaica’s Ministry of Tourism has been indicating its aim to increase visitor arrivals from India. In 2023, Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett was quoted saying, “The Indian market initiatives are now fully on stream. We met with our partners and are beginning engagements later this year…” India has a rapidly growing middle and upper middle class. Better flight connectivity, and a very active Indian community in Jamaica will drive growth from this increasingly lucrative market.

Reported in May this year, Minister Bartlett, in a progress report, stated that Jamaica had appointed TRAC Representations (India) as its local market representative to engage with local travel partners and media, foster trade and consumer awareness of the Jamaican brand, and develop suitable air connectivity options to the island. This strategic partnership is seeking to tap into India’s burgeoning travel market and position Jamaica as a desirable destination for Indian travellers.

So, Jamaica is actively engaged in increasing tourist arrivals from India.

INVESTMENT

Reports indicate that Indian companies are interested in investing in Jamaica and delegations have been visiting to explore investment opportunities in various sectors such as agriculture, software engineering, agro-tech, tourism and real estate. Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, recently opened an office in Jamaica.

Prime Minister Holness, besides meeting with PM Modi and other government officials, will be meeting with trade and industry leaders.

When Foreign Minister Jaishankar visited the LAC region in 2023, he was accompanied by a delegation from the Indian Confederation of Industry.

It would have been encouraging to read that PM Holness was accompanied on this visit to India by a delegation from the private sector to further explore trade and investment opportunities.

So, let us hope that resulting from this visit will be tangible long-term benefits in trade and investment, contributing to sustainable development.

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