Shaw wants to capitalise on Jamaica's improved business rankings

Encouraged by the US$900 million in foreign direct investments that flowed into the country in 2016, Industry and Commerce Minister Audley Shaw says he will be moving to capitalise on Jamaica's increasing attractiveness for doing business to bring more investments into the country.

“Jamaica is fast becoming the regional poster child of fiscal and economic prudence, and coupled with the dynamic investment prospects, we are perfectly positioned for a strong period of growth and development. No shrewd investor should want to miss out on the action,” Shaw said on Thursday as he launched the 2018 Jamaica Investment Forum, at J Wray and Nephew Limited’s corporate office in New Kingston.

The industry and commerce minister’s pronouncements come against the background of Jamaica recording in 2016 the highest outturn in FDI since 2008, according to the most recent World Investment Report.

This performance pushed Jamaica in the top three among small island developing states globally.

Jamaica also ranks 70th out of 190 countries, according to the World Bank’s 2018 Doing Business Report, the highest ranking in the Caribbean after Puerto Rico, and sixth place in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Additionally, the island improved eight spots on the Global Competitiveness Index to 70 of 138 countries in 2017/18, and is ranked the best to do business in the Caribbean, based on the 2017 Forbes Best Countries for Business Report.

Shaw argued that the improved rankings position Jamaica at the pinnacle of investment discourse in the Caribbean.

He said he would be moving to identify the low hanging fruits on a systematic basis “in order to really improve the ease of doing business in Jamaica… and there are lots of low hanging fruits that I will be dealing with in the coming weeks and months”.

Shaw said he recently met with members of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association (JMA) to discuss issues that need to be dealt with, including access to finance.

He said he also met with the Trade Facilitation Group, which he said was looking at removing the obstacles and inhibitors to imports and exports.

"We will continue to develop efficient and transparent regulations and embark on competitiveness strategies that include industry-specific and firm-level innovation efforts (because) we are poised for take-off in this country,” Shaw said.

The third triennial Jamaica Investment Forum, which is organised by JAMPRO, will be held from June 12 to 14 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre under the theme: ‘Connect for Business!’.