EXHIBITION platform for local products Expo Jamaica has hit a four-year high registering more than 600 buyers for this year’s staging.

It’s also the second highest number since the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) assumed the role of buyer recruiter for the event in 2008. Jampro chairman Senator Don Wehby has expressed confidence that the expo will improve Jamaica’s national export performance while increasing local linkages after exceeding the target of 500 buyers.

This year’s staging will include delegations from Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce. Japan, Nigeria, Switzerland, South Africa, and first-time registrant Georgia, with buyers coming from North America, the United Kingdom, Barbados, Costa Rica, Turks and Caicos, Grenada.

Wehby, in a press release from the promotions agency, noted that buyers have not only expressed interest in traditional products from sectors like agro-processing, but also prioritised products from the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, limestone-based and other non-traditional sectors.

“The aim was to give manufacturers and service providers the opportunity to get their products in international markets. It is important that we support events like Expo Jamaica, to create a platform for Jamaican manufacturers to land business deals and create relationships with buyers, so they can continue to contribute positively to Jamaica’s economic performance and bring our products to international markets,” Wehby said.

“At the last Expo Jamaica, companies were able to have 512 meetings in the two buyer days at the event. That was 512 opportunities for Jamaican manufacturers to land a business deal or seal a partnership. That is the true power of this event,” he continued.

Jampro noted that Jamaican buyers are also showing strong support for the event, with half of the number registered being from local companies. It added that the increase in local registrations shows that Jamaican entities are increasing their appetite for locally made products.

PriceSmart Jamaica, MegaMart Jamaica, and Sandals Resorts International were some of the local entities sending buyers to Expo Jamaica to source goods.The productive industries in Jamaica, all of which will be on display at Expo Jamaica 2018, include manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and services.