Diaspora Confab: Investment potential still untapped – study

A study undertaken by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) has shown that the potential for investment and remittances by the estimated three million Jamaicans living overseas remains largely untapped.

Remittance inflows amount to US$2.2 billion per year, representing approximately 16 per cent of Jamaica's Gross Domestic Product.

Research officer for CaPRI, Shanika Smart, says the Diaspora has also been making investments here, with an estimated US$400 million invested through direct and indirect banking accounts and the stock market.

But she says there is potential for far more.

Smart says CaPRI estimated the Diaspora’s potential for investment by taking into consideration the size of the Diaspora, their earnings and savings.

She says it was discovered that members of the Jamaican Diaspora were saving approximately $12.8 billion annually, which could be tapped for investment in Jamaica.

She was making a presentation at the Jamaica Diaspora Conference in Kingston.

The research involved a study on the economic value of remittances, investment, export, tourism and philanthropy.