KINGSTON, Jamaica — A $1 billion National Youth Innovation Fund will be launched by the People’s National Party (PNP), to support youth-led tech and creative startups and projects across tech, music, media, and performance, should they win the upcoming general elections.

The fund will be replenished annually.

The commitment is outlined in the PNP’s 2025 Election Manifesto, ‘Jamaica Love’, which was unveiled on Tuesday night at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.

The manifesto makes clear that the PNP is targeting the nation’s young people as, apart from the $1 billion fund, there are a litany of promises contained in the document.

The party is promising to fund 5,000 youth-owned businesses over five years through start-up grants and low-interest loans. It is also promising to establish 14 regional youth employment hubs providing mentorship, job placement, and training.

And it says it will partner with the private sector to create 20,000 new jobs for young people in tourism, logistics, agriculture, and the digital economy.

Additionally, the PNP is committing to building creative industry hubs and content studios in urban and rural communities and to upgrading 200 schools and community fields, courts and sports centres over four years.

The PNP aims to expand participation in national youth festivals, theatre programmes and dance training with an annual reach of 20,000 young people. The party also promises a National Sports and Culture Apprenticeship Programme to train young coaches, artists and managers.

According to the PNP, “Jamaica’s future depends on its youth.”

“Yet too many young people face limited access to quality education, decent jobs, affordable housing, and creative opportunities.”

The PNP says it is committed to changing that and will create a system that supports young people at every stage—from learning and training to employment and entrepreneurship, and from self-expression to leadership.

“We will build a Jamaica where youth are not just seen but empowered…will reform the curriculum in public schools to include artificial intelligence, climate science, creative thinking, and entrepreneurship.”

Additionally, the PNP is promising that it will expand HEART training centres across all 14 parishes to deliver certified skills in construction, agriculture, entrepreneurship, logistics, and technology.

The party will provide scholarships annually to young people studying at the University of the West Indies, University of Technology, and vocational institutions in high-demand sectors, and will launch a national digital literacy programme to train 25,000 youths by 2029.

According to the PNP, it is time to unlock the potential of Jamaica’s youth.

— Lynford Simpson