MONTEGO BAY, St James — Montego Bay Free Zone (MBFZ) Chairman Mark Hart has thrown his support behind the Government’s plans to transition business process outsourcing (BPO) out of the free zone and into an area, specifically earmarked for that sector, along the Montego Bay Perimeter Road.

The move, said Hart, who was among the first tenants when the MBFZ was established in 1989, will address aging infrastructure and make the country’s BPO sector more competitive.

“Some of the buildings are very old. Some of them are newer, but the campus is not in keeping with some of the competition that we’re facing in South America. Some of the other countries that have visited [us] — Honduras, especially, and Dominican Republic — they have very modern, sophisticated BPO and light industry campuses with a lot of amenities,” Hart said.

He was speaking with reporters during Thursday’s Employment Creation Awards at the Montego Bay Free Zone.

The MBFZ chairman agreed with the Government’s assertion that the proposed relocation optimises land use.

“It’s a win-win because this free zone was built on prime oceanfront land which could be repurposed for resort development and other activities in the future. A BPO really just needs to be well connected to populations with good road infrastructure. Having those modern facilities, probably in better situations with proximity and road connections, I think it’s a great idea. They have my full support, and I hope that I’ll see that vision come through,” said Hart.

His comments echoed those made by Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, during his contribution to the 2026/27 Budget debate, when he outlined the vision for BPOs now housed in the MBFZ.

“Our plan is to gradually relocate the BPO and light industrial activities in the free zone to new, purpose-built facilities along the Montego Bay Perimeter Road, catalysing vibrant economic activity along that emerging corridor while providing modern, world-class, purpose-designed spaces,” the prime minister said.

“This will free up prime waterfront lands on the Freeport peninsula for their highest and best use. We envision a landmark mixed-use development — commercial, retail, and premium residential — seamlessly woven into the urban fabric of the city, comparable in ambition and elegance to the celebrated Brickell waterfront in Miami. At the very heart of this vision will be a performing arts theatre — purpose-built to showcase the full richness of Jamaican music, folklore, and culture to the world,” Holness added.

Hart, who has seen the MBFZ evolve from consisting of companies like sportswear producers Apparel Handlers, which he operated 40 years ago, to data processing that morphed into today’s fully digitised operation which is “much more advanced than keystroke entry”, pointed to the need to have the infrastructure in place to meet increasingly demanding client needs.

“We’re doing complex customer service solutions, financial transactions; we work for the health industries and the software development that can be done. But we do need very modern and sophisticated facilities to attract the companies to come here and make the necessary investments,” he urged.

He underscored the need to be prepared for opportunities artificial intelligence (AI) may bring.

“We don’t really know exactly how it’s going to affect everything, but history will say that it could probably open a lot of opportunities. It would be good for us to get on the right side of that, because I think there will be tremendous amount of companies that will come here if we are prepared to provide the facilities and the skill sets that they’re going to need. I don’t think AI alone is going to take away everybody’s job. It’s going to become a way of really upscaling and enhancing the service that we can provide,” Hart said.