Melanie Subratie is now the chairman of the country’s export marketing and investment promotion agency, Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro).

Her appointment to the position took effect on Monday, July 25, following the resignation of Senator Don Wehby on Friday, July 15.

Subratie, in her capacity as chairman of Jampro, will lead the agency’s board and management in the development and implementation of strategies aimed at attracting investment across several sectors, including developing special economic zones (SEZ). These include manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, information and communication technologies (ICT), tourism, film, business process outsouring, knowledge process outsourcing, and IT outsourcing.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill — who has portfolio responsibility for Jampro — said Subratie’s appointment is strategically aligned with the ministry’s goal of sharpening Jamaica’s focus on growing exports, manufacturing, and creative service capacities to support substantial growth in export revenue and local employment.

“Melanie is an astute business leader, with an impressive career spanning 20 years of both operational and strategic roles in insurance, information technology, telecoms, food distribution, and manufacturing,” he added.

A holder of a Bachelor of Science in Government from the London School of Economics, Subratie worked as a consultant in Deloitte and Touche’s Financial Services Division before returning to Jamaica.

Currently, she is the chairman and chief executive officer of Stanley Motta Limited, which has the region’s only all-female board of directors. She also serves as vice-chairman of Musson Group.

As the head of Stanley Motta, Subratie has overseen the creation of more than 535,000 square feet of business process outsourcing commercial real estate.

As an active angel investor, she sits on the board of BookFusion and is a board member of First Angels Jamaica. The businesswoman worked on several other projects, with a particular emphasis on the development of technology and coding skills among Jamaican youth.

“Her work as co-founder and chair of the Jamaican Girls Coding and Freedom Skatepark is credit to her commitment to Jamaica’s orange economy, particularly in film and animation — a significant area of focus for Jampro,” Minister Hill stated.

Underscoring his confidence in her appointment, the senator said: “We expect that Melanie will use her considerable business experience to support Jampro in becoming a best-in-class business enabler and promotions agency to support Jamaica’s growth in foreign exchange earnings and in the employment of a great many more Jamaicans.”