Logistics symposium coming

Scores of Jamaicans and members of the diaspora will benefit from a one-day logistics symposium titled 'Becoming a Global Logistics Gateway: Opportunities for Jamaican Businesses'. Tomorrow's event will be held between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., at the University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters.

The event is being held to demonstrate Jamaica's readiness to respond to the changes in the global landscape, especially the completion of the Panama Canal Expansion project, and is expected to attract approximately 200 persons representing both the public and private sectors.

The symposium will be organised into two sections to facilitate maximum participation of the attendees. Section one will feature a presentation from economic consulting firm Nathan Associates Inc, titled: 'Master Plan and Industry Analysis for the Global Logistics Hub Initiative'. Section two will feature a series of discussion panels on manufacturing, transportation, and services.

Participants will be able to engage speakers and resource personnel in the afternoon, sharing valuable information across industries.

Platform for discussion

The sessions will discuss the pillars upon which the Global Logistics Hub Initiative is built. These are improved logistics infrastructure, highly skilled human capital, a conducive business environment and technologically advanced business processes, both goods manufacturing and services that facilitate global distribution of products.

These pillars are critical if the country is to raise the utility of agile firms seeking to modify their global supply chain networks by exploiting the opportunities of near shoring in Jamaica to serve the Americas. It is against this background, and within the broader and topical context of the completion of the Panama Canal Expansion project that the symposium bears the greatest significance.

The event is being hosted through a partnership among the Mona School of Business and Management, the Caribbean Maritime Institute, the Port Authority of Jamaica, the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, the Planning Institute of Jamaica, and the Jamaica Logistics Task Force, in association with C & W Business, Sutherland Global Services and Shipping Association of Jamaica. Persons hoping to attend the symposium should register online at: msbm-uwi.org to secure their space.