Foreign trade minister KD Knight (left) shares ideas with Arnold Foote (centre), dean of the Consular Corps and Bill Clarke, president and CEO of Scotiabank, at Sunday's opening of the international business expo.

Several international companies are now seeking to invest in Jamaica, many of them using the opportunities presented by trade shows to forge joint partnerships.

In fact, the international trade expo held annually by the Jamaican Peace Corps is one such staging ground for investors from as far away as Malaysia.

At this year's expo held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel between Sunday and yesterday, foreign affairs minister K D Knight identified 50 companies from Malaysia which he said had expressed investment interest in Jamaica.

"Fifty companies from Malaysia have shown an interest in developing business relationships with Jamaican companies", Knight told participants on Sunday at the opening ceremony, at which he was the keynote speaker.

In his address the minister welcomed the potential new investors, while encouraging Jamaica's private sector to go beyond traditional markets in order to capitalise on the global economy.

"The private sector must be prepared to take risks," he said. "The ability to effectively penetrate markets outside of CARICOM is important to achieving a competitive advantage."

Among the countries that participated in the show were Thailand, Peru, Chile, Malaysia and Botswana.

Prakas Nair, trade commissioner from the Malaysian External Trade Development Co-operation, estimated the potential trade between Jamaica and Malaysia at US$6 million. Malaysia is ranked 7th by the World Trade Organisation as a global trading powerhouse.

"We are one of the largest trading nations in the world," said Nair.

Arnold Foote, dean of the Consular Corps, said that the main objectives of the expo were to develop cooperation through trade and to re-establish Kingston as an international business centre.

The three-day event was held at the Jamaica Pegasus from Sunday to yesterday. It was scheduled to end with a business seminar aimed at providing information for representatives from foreign countries and Jamaica on how to do business nationally and internationally.

The expo is held annually by Jamaica's consular corps.

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