The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) and Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) have strengthened their partnership in a bid to attract increased investments to the country, as the Government moves to reposition the island as the fourth node in the global logistics supply chain.
The JSEZA's chairman, Metry Seaga, and Chief Executive Officer Dr Eric Deans, and JAMPRO's president, Diane Edwards, last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) during a brief ceremony at the authority's offices on Waterloo Road in St Andrew.
The MOU sets out the framework within which the entities will collaborate to bolster and maximise the investment potential of the special economic zone (SEZ) regime, which is pivotal to the administration's Global Logistics Hub Initiative (GLHI).
An SEZ is an area in which business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increased trade, increased investment, job creation, and effective administration.
Seaga welcomed the strengthening of the collaboration, citing JAMPRO as "one of our critical, if not our most critical partner".
He noted that JAMPRO is the agency of Government responsible for marketing and promoting potential investment opportunities in Jamaica, while the JSEZA is focused on facilitating these within a logistics-centred space.
"So we are very happy to have JAMPRO as a partner, and we look forward to making Jamaica a place of significant importance in the economic zone space internationally," the chairman added.
Seaga noted that there are many positive developments occurring in Jamaica which place the country at a great advantage as an ideal location for increased investments.
"We are very happy with where we are economically. We are on the right track... [and] a lot of good indicators are taking place. What we have to do now is to achieve growth as a country ... and it is important that we do what we need to do ... and do it well," he added.
In his remarks, Dr Deans said the special economic zone regime "heralds a new era for Jamaica", in terms of attracting investments.
"What the regime does is create some special incentives in specially designated geographic areas that are globally competitive for investors," he noted.
Dr Deans said, however, that as the agency responsible for monitoring and regulating the zones, the JSEZA "needs a partner such as JAMPRO to work very closely with us.
"Hence, today we are signing this MOU which sets the framework in which we will collaborate very closely in pushing for further investments in the country," he added.
For her part, Edwards welcomed the bolstering of the partnership, noting that "it is critical for us, in our attempts to sell Jamaica as a [viable] destination for investments, that we have strong and attractive infrastructure that leverages the location that we have".