Prime Minister Andrew Holness is urging local players in the manufacturing industry to make every effort to tap into the Latin American market.

“I encourage our manufacturers to start looking closely at the Latin American market,” Holness prompted Jamaican manufacturers.“There is a large Latin American market that you must penetrate; that knows about Jamaica and loves our music. We may speak different languages, but we have similar experiences and we can navigate in those markets as well.”The prime minister was speaking at Thursday night’s opening of the inaugural staging of the Jamaica International Exhibition (JIE), a trade show put on by the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA) at the Montego Bay Convention Centre between June 1 and 3.Underscoring the need for manufacturers to aim for a bigger slice of the international market, Holness endorsed the inaugural JIE, which boasted more than 200 buyers and suppliers from 11 countries who converged at the Convention Centre to forge business contacts.“We need to expand. So I endorse it (JIE) because I want to see our business people step outside of Jamaica. We have products that can compete, and you need to get on that market so that people can see you,” Holness argued.“I always say to my colleagues in Cabinet that Jamaica is in a strange place. There are not too many countries in the world with 2.8 million people. So we are not quite too small and we are not quite large. So our market is not just at the point where our businesses can just grow exclusively from our market.”Meanwhile, T’Shura Gibbs, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, described the inaugural staging of the JIE as a success.“The Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry certainly endorses this expo. We are very excited that they chose MoBay to launch their event. But I am happy that I am seeing a number of businesses that are not members of the chamber and they don’t have locations here in Montego Bay. So what that does is to create a great opportunity for us to invite them to Montego Bay and to work with them to ensure that the chamber facilitates their entry into Montego Bay,” Gibbs declared.She continued: “I see huge opportunities. I see enough for everyone, and as long as we all work together — the chamber, the JMA and all other stakeholders — we can make all of Jamaica, not only Montego Bay, a great place.”The prime minister also commended the staging of the event, noting that it transmits far-reaching international signals that Jamaica is serious about its share in the marketplace.