Black River, St Elizabeth – Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller is advocating the building of “creative investment partnerships” in agriculture and tourism as part of the drive to further develop St Elizabeth.

Speaking at a St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation investment conference at the Invercaud Hotel in this seaside town on Thursday, Simpson Miller said the parish was ready for economic expansion and investors should move to take advantage.

She identified the development of “post-harvest technologies”, including smoking, curing, salting, drying, cleaning, extraction and packaging, that should be explored as investment opportunities presented by the high volume of agricultural production in the parish.

She also suggested the “establishment of a marketing centre” as a project with investment potential which she felt would make it possible for thousands of farmers in the “bread basket parish to smile all year round”.

Simpson Miller, a former tourism minister, said St Elizabeth was “critically important” and “ideally equipped” for the “full range of tourism offerings”, including community, nature, health, culture and heritage, entertainment and retirement.

She pointed to the possibility of the development of the well-known attraction, Holland Bamboo, as a heritage park, the creation of a retirement village catering for returning residents, and to opportunities for expansion and growth in the craft industry.

The prime minister said the proposed restoration of the historic parish capital, Black River, as a heritage town in line with the South Coast Development Plan, presented another opportunity for investors.

She argued that potential investors could take heart from an improving national economy, with macro-economic indicators all giving cause for optimism.

She praised the St Elizabeth Homecoming Foundation – the first to initiate homecoming celebrations 14 years ago – for its strong, “non-partisan” role in community development in the parish.

The parish investment conference was one of the highlights of the St Elizabeth Homecoming Week (Nov 26 – Dec 3), which also featured a Golden Awards banquet at the Hilton Kingston Hotel on November 29, a public forum on crime, a career expo, concerts and a church service.