In a brilliant keynote speech last week to the Latin America and Caribbean Trade Horizons Forum at Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland — the culmination of the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) mission to Ireland (an investment promotion trip that also included the UK afterwards) — state minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce Delano Seiveright appeared to charm his Irish audience by noting the cultural similarities between Jamaica and Ireland going back centuries.

The forum, hosted by Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, brought together ministers, investors, and business leaders to explore export and investment opportunities between Ireland, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Jamaica’s participation in the forum formed part of a wider export and investment mission to Ireland and the United Kingdom, led by the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce in coordination with Jampro and supported by the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) as well as members of the Jamaican private sector.

Seiveright highlighted the long-standing cultural and historical ties between Jamaica and Ireland, including their shared resilience and strong Diaspora connections. Observing that this cultural similarity was why Jamaicans and the Irish appeared to connect so well, he noted the many Jamaican communities — Irish Town, Dublin Castle, Belfast, Sligoville, and Ulster Spring – named after places in Ireland as just a few of many examples of our shared heritage, as well as our mutual love of humour and story telling.

He also highlighted the key role of Chris Blackwell and his company Island Records in both the now legendary music of Bob Marley and the signing of four Dublin teenagers that became the globally successful Irish rock band U2, of which iconic lead vocalist Bono was a co-founder.

Observing that both countries have a connected diaspora and global brands that punch well above their weight, he compared Irish brands such as Guinness, Jamieson, Ryanair, and Kerry with Jamaican brands like Sandals Resorts International, GraceKennedy, Wisynco, and Seprod, and highlighted the potential of the latter to drive further investment, exports, and expansion locally and internationally.

Seiveright praised Ireland’s great “Celtic Tiger” turnaround as one of the world’s great investment and innovation success stories, which combined strategic policy, export orientation, investment in education and infrastructure, and superior global business engagement. Over the past three decades, Ireland has transformed itself into a globally connected investment hub by attracting large brand name multinational corporations while simultaneously developing internationally competitive indigenous enterprises capable of expanding abroad.

Seiveright observed that now “Jamaica is open for business, but more importantly, Jamaica is ready for serious, long-term partnership,” particularly as a strategically connected hub.

He further stated, “Jamaica today is increasingly positioning itself as one of the Caribbean’s most stable, connected, and business-ready economies” due to its strategic location, strong logistics infrastructure, expanding digital services sector, and positioning as a leading English-speaking nearshore destination in the Americas.

He highlighted the country’s improving macroeconomic stability, declining debt levels, low unemployment, stable inflation, and growing investor confidence, alongside an open investment framework with no exchange controls, restrictions on foreign ownership, or profit repatriation.

He pointed to major investments in tourism and energy, including an over US$1-billion investment by Excelerate Energy, large investments by international hotel groups, as well as growing activity in manufacturing, logistics, and agro-processing.

He cited Digicel, founded by Irish entrepreneur Denis O’Brien, as having a transformational impact on telecommunications in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, and highlighted the opportunity for Irish and international stakeholders to explore partnership and investment opportunities in Jamaica across logistics, tourism, manufacturing, digital services, renewable energy, agro-processing, and infrastructure.

Why does Ireland represent a diversification opportunity for Jamaica? Jamaica’s investment promotion strategy has historically focused heavily on the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and selected Asian markets. Ireland, however, is an ideal beachhead for Jamaica to strategically diversify into Europe through its strong global corporate connectivity, high levels of innovation, and a business culture that closely aligns with Anglo-American commercial systems.

Furthermore, Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Government are actively encouraging indigenous Irish enterprises to expand globally and diversify their export and investment markets, creating an opportunity for Jamaica to engage mid-sized internationally ambitious Irish firms such as infrastructure and engineering companies, hospitality suppliers, renewable energy developers, logistics operators, agritech businesses, and particularly technology enterprises.

Jampro’s decision to focus on partnership opportunities with Ireland is not only because it is a small European economy, but because it is also one of the world’s largest outward investors relative to the size of its domestic market, with a highly internationalised business sector actively seeking global opportunities, as evidenced by its growing outward investment in Central America.

A structured Jamaica-Ireland investment strategy would not only diversify Jamaica’s European investment relationships, but also position the country to capture emerging opportunities arising from Ireland’s continued international commercial expansion.

Laurence Jones, the head of Jampro’s European Regional Office, argues there is “strong potential for mutually beneficial investment partnerships”.

He said, “The data increasingly supports the case for Jamaica to engage Ireland not only as a European trade partner, but as a long-term strategic source of investment. Irish firms are expanding internationally, and Jamaica offers a competitive platform for regional operations, market access, and growth across the Caribbean and the Americas.”

So the key question is: Can Jamaica become the “Carib Tiger” of our region by initially partnering with Ireland both as a beachhead into the less familiar European markets — for which Ireland is now the only native English-speaking country in the European Union — and through making Jamaica its preferred hub for regional investments.

If we can piggyback on their medium-sized firms, who also have Irish State backing, this should be an easier sell than either trying to cold call markets with a different language and culture in Europe or immediately attract brand name global multinationals as a small economy.

Keith Collister