Ja regional poster child of fiscal and economic prudence — Shaw
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica is fast becoming the regional poster child of fiscal and economic prudence driving the island’s dynamic investment prospects.
This is according to Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Audley Shaw.
Shaw, speaking at Thursday’s launch of the 2018 Jamaica Investment Forum, at J Wray and Nephew Limited’s corporate office in New Kingston, said Jamaica is “perfectly positioned for a strong period of growth and development. No shrewd investor should want to miss out on the action.”
He added that his ministry will be leading expansion of the Government’s investor outreach thrust, through trade and investment agency – Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO).
The minister’s pronouncements come against the background of Jamaica recording increased foreign direct investments totalling US$900 million in 2016, which is the highest outturn since 2008, according to the most recent World Investment Report.
This performance ranked the country in the top three among small island developing states globally. Jamaica also ranks 70th out of 190 countries, according to the World Bank’s 2018 Doing Business Report, the highest ranking in the Caribbean after Puerto Rico, and sixth place in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Additionally, the island improved eight spots on the Global Competitiveness Index to 70 of 138 countries in 2017/18, and is ranked the best to do business in the Caribbean according to the 2017 Forbes Best Countries for Business Report.
He noted that while the global marketplace may be getting smaller, the opportunities for productive investment and business development continue to grow.
This, the minister argued, positions Jamaica at the pinnacle of investment discourse in the Caribbean based on its most recent rankings and outturns.
He said that one of his missions is to identify the low hanging fruit on a systematic basis “in order to really improve the ease of doing business in Jamaica… and believe me, there are lots of low hanging fruits that I will be dealing with in the coming weeks and months.”
