NEW Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) President Warren McDonald is advocating collaboration among local trade companies entering international markets.

McDonald, who was last month elected president of the chamber, reckons that leading trade companies must co-operate with smaller firms to reduce the hassle and expenditure of entering international export markets.

“What we find is that each company will try on their own to break into these big markets, and we don’t want a situation where a shipment contains only half of what it can bring,” McDonald told the Jamaica Observer.

Already, McDonald has started repositioning the chamber’s executive team and has commenced the ‘collaboration of competitiveness’ initiative to fuel the strategy which will focus on trade facilitation and competitiveness.

“Previously we were an internalised body who just looked to the domestic market, but now we feel that if Jamaica is to have sustainable growth, we need to look beyond our shores and start exporting,” he said.

“Although the traders are competitors here in the Jamaican market, we want them to work together when trying to break into foreign markets as this will enhance our chance of competing with the rest of the world,” the JCC president added.

McDonald’s election follows the death of former president Francis ‘Paco’ Kennedy. The new president last served as chief executive officer and regional manager of Berger Paints Jamaica. Prior to that, McDonald held the post of director at the Bank of Nova Scotia Jamaica Limited and also served on the bank’s audit, conduct, pensions and human resources committees. He was also a director of Scotia Group Jamaica Limited.

He is a justice of the peace and lay magistrate for the parish of Kingston, a freemason for the past 28 years, a Kiwanian since 1993, and has been affiliated with the chamber, serving since 2008 on the Executive Committee.

Recently, McDonald was appointed to the board of directors of CUNA Caribbean Insurance Society Ltd and served as chairman of the board of Portmore Community College. He previously worked with Monymusk Sugar Estate/Factory and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Graduating from the University of the West Indies with an honours degree in Economics, McDonald is a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, United Kingdom (UK) and also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica.

He successfully completed several senior executive management programmes at institutions such as Harvard Graduate School of Business (Financial Management); Columbia Graduate School of Business (Marketing Management); and Cranfield School of Management (General Management).

“The new position is certainly challenging, but it gives an opportunity to contribute on a national scale,” he said.