KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the key to true political independence is economic independence, which is one of the primary focuses of his administration.

“There is a generation that still thinks about political independence. What I’m struggling for is Jamaica’s economic independence,” said Holness during the keynote address at the 21st Regional Investments and Capital Markets Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on January 20, 2026.

“You can talk all you want about your political independence. At some point, you have to be able to back it up with your economic independence,” the prime minister added.

In promising to keep Jamaica’s best interest at the forefront of government, Holness noted that to accomplish this Jamaica must always be represented globally.

“Even small countries have power. Some people just don’t understand the new statecraft as to how you exert that and how you use that,” he said.

“For us, and for this administration, pursuing economic independence ultimately will result in your political independence. For many years, Jamaica has been diverted into all kinds of ideological fantasies that resulted in us wandering in the wilderness of economic despair. We will not do that again,” Holness continued.

The prime minister highlighted that the fiscal choices made by the Government has allowed the country to start recovering quickly from the impact of Hurricane Melissa by lending it global credibility.

“We have demonstrated that we are a responsible country with strong institutions. And so the result of that is that we were able to secure US$6.7 billion in financing. Now I can hear the [people] say, ‘but those are loans’; some of it would be grants. But the real secret is the access to low-cost financing with very little conditionalities,” he said.

Noting that there is an inextricable link between politics and economics, the prime minister also pointed to the strong partnership between the public and private sectors.

Highlighting that the private sector is not just large companies, Holness said, “I say this to our Jamaican private sector, which is not just NCB (National Commercial Bank), our private sector is also the lady frying that fish in Border. In fact, she is more of the private sector.”

“I am not going to do anything that will prevent her from having her fish sold to local and foreign tourists so she can send her children to school. Because that is how you preserve and build the dignity of the people. I want that message, which is unscripted, to percolate and filter throughout the audience,” he said.