Prime Minister Andrew Holness says in order for Jamaica to become a rich nation, “We must export.”

Holness made the comment Thursday during the official opening ceremony of Expo Jamaica 2023, which is expected to attract over 18,000 visitors across four days.

“We will export and become a rich nation,” the prime minister stated.

The Expo has been held annually since 1971 with the exception of 2020 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a child growing up in Jamaica when we would hear the outside broadcast it would sound so exciting, and it was an exciting event to visit. In later years, I would also make it a point of duty to visit the Expo, and I’ve always been fascinated by the gems that you discover are manufactured in Jamaica,” Holness said.

“And that is the essence of the expo, it is to expose the productive capacity, the innovation, the ingenuity, [and] the creativity of Jamaican manufacturing,” he added.

Holness went on to describe the event as the “the largest the expo has ever seen.”

“We are also happy that we are seeing significant interest from our international counterparts, in all areas. In distribution, retailers, hotel purchasers, potential partners in various manufacturing endeavours,” he said.

He said “several serious” international investors are visiting the Expo, some of whom have already struck business deals, and are also on the island to discover other investment opportunities.

“The expo is a multi-sectoral endeavour, showcasing Jamaica’s manufacturing capabilities across various areas, whether we have primary producers, we have promising start up businesses, whether it is faction, whether it is construction, whether it is in food, we have broad-based manufacturing industry here in Jamaica. I’m certain that as a result of this expo and the exposure that Jamaica will get, our manufacturing will increase even greater,” Holness explained.

“The sound policies of this administration will ensure that Jamaica recovers quickly, that the consumption power that is lost by virtue of inflation is recovered. That the incomes lost by virtue of any fall-out in employment that occurred as a result of the pandemic, that those jobs are recovered… It is good economic management that will ensure that the Jamaican people really feel and experience prosperity,” he continued.

The Expo is being hosted by the Jamaica Manufacturers’ and Exporters Association Limited , and is the Caribbean’s largest exhibition and trade show highlighting manufacturers, service providers, primary producers, exporters and tourism industry under one roof.

On Thursday, the Expo saw registrants from a multitude of countries including Ghana, the United Kingdom, the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda.