Jamaica a true gem

Below is a lightly edited presentation by Edmund Bartlett, opposition spokesman for tourism and travel service development, to the Council of the Americas, in Miami recently.

With a population of just more than 2.7 million and a diaspora larger than that number, Jamaica will celebrate 50 years of independence from Great Britain. In those 50 years, we have grown, albeit slowly, in our economic, social and infrastructure development.

Our primary drivers of economic growth - tourism and bauxite-alumina - continue to rake in most of our country's foreign-exchange earnings. And in recent times, the information communication and technology, manufacturing, logistics, shipping, entertainment, sports, energy and agriculture sectors have shown tremendous potential and will undoubtedly become big drivers of growth in the years to come.

BIG PLUSES

Jamaica is a place ripe for investment. We have:

1. An educated English-speaking population.

2. A stable, vibrant and healthy democracy.

3. Strong infrastructure, including world-class international airport and seaport facilities, excellent telecommunications systems and a well-networked diaspora extending into North America and Europe.

4. A healthy and well-developed banking and financial system buttressed by a free and open market economy, and;

5. Very important, we are located just a little over an hour from here in Miami, mainland USA.

Of course, like most other economies in our global village, Jamaica, too, continues to feel the effects of the global economic slowdown. It saw us heading into a standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund just two years ago. The continued shaky state of the Eurozone economies and the lacklustre growth rates for the US economy are cause for concern.

FITCH RATING

International ratings agency, Fitch, recently put out its ratings outlook for Jamaica, which is stable at 'B-'. The report said, in part, that: "Jamaica's ratings are supported by improving macroeconomic stability and its relative high level of institutional strength, which has allowed the sovereign to respond to significant fiscal and balance of payments pressures over the years. Jamaica also compares favourably with peers in terms of GDP per capita and human development indicators (HDI)."

Fitch also expects the Jamaican economy to grow by 1.2 per cent and 1.0 per cent in 2011 and 2012, respectively, which of course follows close to three years of recession.

The relative health of the economy is underpinned by some of the well-credited policy moves of the previous administration, including the internationally acclaimed Jamaica Debt Exchange, which exchanged debt in the form of Jamaican-dollar and US-dollar bonds - Old Notes - which carry high interest rates for New Notes with lower interest rates and extended maturities.

This led to low interest rates, a stable exchange rate, healthy net international reserves and low inflation. As a matter of fact, for the first time in 40 years Jamaica has had low inflation, low interest rates, a stable exchange rate, and high foreign reserves all at the same time. In short, this is a time to invest!

NEW GOVERNMENT

In order to continue with the positive gains of the previous administration, the new PNP administration has already stated that it intends to negotiate a new agreement with the International Monetary Fund, especially in light of the fact that the 2010 standby arrangement ends in May this year. Additionally, the new Government knows that it would have to rein in expenditure pressures, and propel forward with reforms to country's tax system, curtail public-sector salaries and contain and deal with increasing pension pressures.

We also continue to have a serious debt problem and are still highly vulnerable to external shocks. This is no different from the many serious economic challenges faced by many other countries throughout the globe. Jamaica, on the bright side, has weathered the storm well.

WHERE TO INVEST

Now, where would I guide you to invest in Jamaica today? I served as minister of tourism from September 2007 to December last year. I served at a time when the global economy began to experience serious difficulties, leading to a global economic meltdown in September 2008. Despite that, Jamaica's tourism industry grew at healthy rates, bucking the worldwide and regional trends of declining tourism growth rates and earnings.

Just to give some insight into the robust state of our tourism industry, for the first eight months of 2011, Jamaica grossed almost US$1.5 billion in record earnings, representing a 3.4 per cent increase. Added to that are 2.1 million tourists visiting the island up to August 31, representing a 5.7 per cent increase in visitor arrivals, which includes a whopping 13.6 per cent increase in cruise arrivals. Add to that more than one million airlift seats into the island for the current winter tourist season.

Exceptional marketing and public-relations efforts, coupled with clear-minded vision and leadership, were keys to our success. Further, our country has a dynamic product, much of which is still untapped and bursting at the seams with potential.

BEYOND TOURISM

Beyond tourism, there are many other areas to invest in. Already the Chinese have taken interest in our country's infrastructure, including our roads and bridges. The Chinese have even gone into agriculture. The Spanish have built quite a few big hotels and are doing very well. The French have invested in one of our seaports. Others, including American investors, are exploring opportunities in the business process outsourcing sector.

We are on track for developments in the international financial services sector, and of course many opportunities exist in manufacturing, logistics, shipping, telecommunications, entertainment, sports, energy and agriculture.

Jamaica is a gold mine of opportunity. Many have come and are doing well. I invite others to come too!