KINGSTON, Jamaica— Minister of Labour and Social Security, Karl Samuda, is calling on Jamaicans to place more emphasis on training as the country continues its recovery efforts from the devastating impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

Speaking at a virtual Productivity Forum recently at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston, Samuda highlighted issues the coronavirus has brought to Jamaica’s productive sector, while emphasising what Jamaicans can do to overcome these issues.

“Training is very critical, but the training has to be focused and we have to identify, in my opinion, those areas of production where at least we have some experience,” Samuda said.

“We have to also realise that we have gone through a fundamental shift in how we do our business in Jamaica,” he added.

According to the minister, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Jamaica was on the right track.

“We were heading in the right direction. We had built up resources we thought would have withstood any shocks and we had no idea that this shock would have been as great as COVID has proven to be,” he said.

“Now that it has had a devastating impact on our economy, where we have seen a dramatic decline in economic growth, we have been able to, to a great extent, stabilise the slide and we are now focusing on those areas that can restore our economy to a healthy path as we were on before,” he added.

The forum was held under the theme ‘Jamaica’s Economical Survival – An Industrial Approach”.

The topics discussed were human capital, digital infrastructure, factors contributing to industrial development and growth, and internal perspectives and success stories.