Growth & Jobs | Export more banana and plantain chips – Ahmad
Published:Tuesday | March 3, 2020 | 12:18 AMJason Cross/ Gleaner Writer
British High Commissioner to Jamaica Asif Ahmad has said Jamaica would do well turning bananas and plantains into chips and marketing the products as the Dominican Republic has done to corner that market.
“If you make them into chips, there is a big market,” he suggested last Saturday during the third annual UK Jamaica Fair, held at King’s House in St Andrew.
Ahmad said Jamaica is at a stage where the majority of its bananas are consumed locally and not being able to produce at low costs and in high volumes as others. He recommended that focus be placed on value-added products, and in areas such as women’s clothing and accessories.
“Part of our aid programme is to help Jamaican businesses export. We are working on determining what are the best products, what should be value added and processed here, and which brands should be registered here. It’s not just about bananas. There are other things, like women’s clothing, accessories and haircare that can be sold in the wider markets,” said Ahmad.
Ahmad told The Gleaner that the no-tariff deal with Jamaica will continue.
“Brexit is done, and what that means is that we set our policies on who we trade with, what our terms of trade are, what immigration policy, who is allowed to live, study and work in the UK. All of those things are coming in fresh. What that means for Jamaica is that the existing no-tariff deal will continue. That has to improve because only the Dominican Republic actually used the facility properly. Ninety per cent of bananas they grow, goes to the UK,” said Ahmad.
He declared that the rest of Europe will miss the UK more than they [the UK] will miss them, noting that Britain is already the fifth-largest economy in the world and can stand on its own feet. He said Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made it clear that in the event there is no deal with the European Union after Brexit, Britain will have no trouble selling to Canada, the United States, Australia, and Jamaica.
He affirmed the importance of Jamaica to Britain, noting that the relationship has always been important, but not a lot of noise is made to highlight it, hence the annual hosting of the fair.