The Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) has said that with the high volume of imported goods coming into the island, consumers are being urged to take advantage of the recent reduction in the General Consumption Tax (GCT) to purchase more local products and to build the country’s manufacturing sector.

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer last Wednesday, Richard Pandohie, President of the JMEA, described the situation as ridiculous, highlighting it is an area that requires urgent attention.

“Our consumption and appetite for imported items have become ridiculous.

“The GCT coming down is something that we applaud and really wanted, it will have an impact on everybody in the society and create more disposable income — hopefully for them to buy locally manufactured products,” he said.

With the Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke, in his budget presentation recently announcing a reduction of 1.5 percentage points to GCT from 16.5 to 15 per cent, the JMEA’s head believes that the ‘giveback’ should encourage consumers to buy Jamaican.

“From a manufacturers’ standpoint we are looking forward to engage the government further as we believe that more can be done but this is a step in the right direction,” he told Sunday Finance while also commending the Ministry of Finance for developing an excellent road map.

In commenting on the impacts resulting from a reduction in GCT, Pandohie expressed that real benefits to his sector could come from using the monies saved from the reduction to invest more in local production and manufacturing.

“If we are going to continue to consume so heavily in terms of bringing imported items, then this would make no sense. Our import bill continues to rise dramatically … and a food import bill now almost at US$1-billion. We continue to consume our way on imported items, creating jobs and opportunities in other countries while we continue in suffering when we become an import-dependent economy,” he bemoaned.

“We’re hoping the GCT will have an impact, but we have to go out and make a campaign as it makes no sense having a competitive dollar through devaluation if we are not exporting,” he added.

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) international merchandise trade bulletin for the January to November 2019 period reflected that the country’s imports went up by 3.9 per cent while export decreased by 15.6 per cent.

Pandohie, in noting that the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, now in the island, has made it even more evident of how vulnerable we are as a country is hoping also that this will provide a teaching moment.

“COVID has shown how vulnerable that makes us; also providing opportunities for us to educate consumers,” he said while strongly advising people to become more educated around the issues and become better able to rationalise and understand the need to make certain decisions, especially ones that can benefit them.

The JMEA president also called on manufacturers to play their part in ensuring that the needs for demands and supplies are met.

“On our side we have to also make sure that we make the goods that are attractive to people and give good value proposition. It has to be a partnership.” he said.

Mark Williams, CEO of Kingston Wharves, also shared the view that the country needs to export more, noting that for every 10 shipment containers that comes into Jamaica, only three or less go out with goods.

“If a container vessel comes to the Kingston Wharves with 700 containers, heading back, very few, only a minute fraction, heads back loaded — they are heading back to Florida or wherever empty. What I would want to see more is some focus on export and we have to get this done. I would also want to see some more focus on manufacturing which will lead to more exports,” he said to Sunday Finance.