JAMPRO shortlists six projects for UAE investors

Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) has shortlisted six major projects for which the Government is seeking to attract potential investments from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

They are the Caymanas Special Economic Zone (CSEZ), Just Fruits and Vegetables Limited (JFVL) Agriculture, Bamboo Bioproducts, Soapberry Water Treatment Plant, Vernamfield Aerotropolis, and Kingston Logistics Park.

Details were outlined by JAMPRO President Diane Edwards, during a country briefing with UAE and other multinational business interests attending EXPO 2020 Dubai, on Friday.

She informed attendees that the CSEZ industrial park, being situated on lands adjacent to Mandela Highway in St Catherine, is being planned for public-private partnership development.

Edwards pointed out that it will offer warehousing and space for information and communications technology (ICT), manufacturing and logistics, and will be an integral component of road, air, and sea connectivity.

“It’s a very attractive project [that is] centrally located, close to Kingston, and offers a [full] range of globally competitive tax incentives and … is going to create a number of jobs,” Edwards said.

She indicated that the US$6-million JSVL Agriculture project is a state-of-the-art supply chain operation designed to address challenges experienced by farmers by providing warehousing support, among other inputs.

“This is a project which will really solve a lot of the logistics problems for small farmers and has a real opportunity to transform the agricultural space in Jamaica,” she noted.

Turning to the Vernamfield Aerotropolis, which aims to create a city around aircraft maintenance services and logistics, Edwards said it is as “visionary [and] ambitious a project as Dubai itself has undertaken”.

“So, it’s a real opportunity to use a centrally located airport, which used to be a World War II airport, [and] build out a new facility in Jamaica,” she noted.

As it relates to the Kingston Logistics Park, which is owned by the Port Authority of Jamaica, Edwards noted that the development is in proximity to the port of Kingston and “ideally suited” for integration into the global supply chains.

She noted that the project offers a near-port facility for value-added production in a special economic zone environment focused on export.

Edwards told the business stakeholders attending the briefing that “Jamaica is open for business”.

She noted that the island offers exciting and diverse investment opportunities, and “has all the elements that a modern business wants to leverage, grow and thrive”.

“Jamaica wants your business. Jamaica wants to work with Dubai in creating a prosperous future for both of us,” Edwards added.