MONTEGO BAY, St James —Minister of state in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce Delano Seiveright has expressed concern that too many family owned businesses in Jamaica are failing to make effective generational transitions, placing their long-term sustainability at risk.

Speaking Wednesday during a JMMB Group Thought Leadership Breakfast at S Hotel in Montego Bay, Seiveright said he was not seeing enough evidence of structured handovers or future-focused planning among local enterprises.

“I have a genuine concern of the state of some family businesses in Jamaica, because I’m not seeing effective transition. I’m not seeing effective handover. I’m not seeing a future-focused approach in keeping businesses sustained,” said Seiveright.

He warned that while Jamaican businesses struggle with succession, international investors are aggressively moving into the local market and capitalising on opportunities.

“We have investors coming from other corners of the world who are seeing opportunity and acting on them. You look at the Chinese, the Mexicans and other ethnic groups who have come and they’re seeing opportunity and making the best of them,” Seiveright noted.

Against that background, the minister stressed the need to better support to empower Jamaican entrepreneurs.

“We know the challenges, we know the issues with financing and so on. That’s why I’m happy that JMMB – and other institutions too – have been very good at hand-holding some of our entrepreneurs to make them more professional, to ensure that they can prepare a proper financial statement, that they are ready for business and that they can access loans, and they can pay back the loans and focus on improving efficiency and productivity and that sort of thing,” he said.

Seiveright argued that Jamaica must move beyond traditional business models and focus on niche markets and value-added industries if it is to remain competitive.

“It is absolutely important, because the world is changing rapidly. Jamaica’s economy, a lot of it is service oriented, yes, but we have to accept the fact that it’s the niche areas and the value-added that’s where a lot of our benefits will come from,” he said.

He also highlighted the growing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital literacy, warning that Jamaica risks being left behind if it does not embrace new technologies.

“In order to be ahead of that and to be at the cutting edge, you do have to have an understanding of AI. And we have to now ensure that it does become a part of our daily life, so that we don’t get left behind. And that’s important,” Seiveright said.

Turning to the diaspora, the minister said there was enormous untapped potential among Jamaicans living overseas, many of whom are now seeking to return home or invest locally.

“We have an amazing diaspora that’s larger than the size of Jamaica; who, anecdotally, appear to be taking more and more of an interest in what’s going on in Jamaica,” he said, noting that geopolitical developments in North America and Europe were also influencing that trend.

However, he cautioned that many returning Jamaicans require significant guidance to successfully reintegrate into the local business environment.

“There’s a need for more hand-holding, a need for more guidance. Because for somebody who has lived in Chicago for 25, 30, years, and to come back into Jamaica, sometimes it’s a bit of a difficulty to adjust to our time frames, how we interact and so on,” he explained.

Seiveright said agencies such as Jampro are actively working to support members of the Diaspora who are interested in investing or starting businesses in Jamaica.