KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Audley Shaw has reiterated the Government’s commitment to working with the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) to achieve economic growth and development, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shaw made the commitment during virtual meeting yesterday to formally introduce new Minister of State, Dr Norman Dunn to the JCC.

According to the ministry, the meeting also included a discussion on some of the areas on which the ministry and the JCC could partner.

“We might have areas in commerce that we as government have to focus on, and that we need to attend to in order to make commerce easier, particularly in this COVID-19 time,” Shaw said.

“We want to build out a more efficient commerce sector that provides better services to our people. We have to move forward. Everything that we do, we need to do it more productively, including providing service to the people of Jamaica,” he added.

Dr Norman Dunn also noted that “we are very bullish on commerce and whatever issues that are affecting commerce, those issues must be dealt with expeditiously. We have no time to waste. COVID-19 has given us a great opportunity to reset the button”.

He said the staff at the ministry will ensure that all the issues relating to commerce are dealt with, so that the country can move forward and recover stronger.

President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, Lloyd Distant, noted that some key areas for focus as the country seeks to recover from COVID-19 includes fostering export-led growth, the MSME sector and boosting the services sector in order to resuscitate the economy.