KINGSTON, Jamaica – Investors can benefit from Jamaica’s proximity to major global trading markets such as the United States and Canada, and Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill is encouraging local and international businesses to take advantage of this opportunity.

Hill was addressing a ceremony at the AC Hotel by Marriott in St Andrew on Wednesday (April 13), held to provide an update on the staging of the World Free Zones Organisation (World FZO) eighth Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE 2022).

The global event is being staged jointly by the World FZO (WFZO) and Jamaica, through the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA).

“At the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority, we are looking at building out the Caymanas Campus so that we have investment opportunities for people who are coming to look at Jamaica,” he said.

The build-out of the Caymanas area is an important element of the plan to further establish Jamaica as a global logistics hub.

He suggested that Jamaica can produce goods such as pharmaceuticals which countries, including the United States, now import from suppliers located in distant countries.

It would be easier, he said, to get those goods to the US market from Jamaica, noting that delivery times, delays and complications from shipping arrangements would be reduced.

“When you cannot get ships, when containers are scarce and the price has gone up from US$6,000 to U$18,000 or US$20,000 to get a container from your supplier [utilising] long supply chains, shorten it, and Jamaica is at the right place,” he said.

The Minister observed that among the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, is the question about long supply chains and the importance of purchasing supplies from locations nearby.

“We need the foreign investors, but we also need local investors. I am inviting traders to invest in Jamaica, so that we can produce things to sell overseas,” he stated.

Two of the richest countries in the world – Singapore and Israel – have significantly benefited from exporting their goods and services. “That’s where we have to go. We are not going to get rich selling to three million people with GDP per capita of approximately $5,000 per year. It is not going to happen. We have to export,” he said.

Meanwhile, he urged business leaders to register and participate at the Annual International Conference & Exhibition (AICE) 2022.

AICE 2022 is scheduled for June 13 to 17 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St James. More than 1,000 people from 157 countries are expected to attend the event.

“As Jamaica charts its course forward, the Government believes we all have a part to play to re-energise and revitalise the various sectors of our economy,” he said.

Senator Hill noted that there have been positive responses to the conference from the business community in Montego Bay. “I am looking for a similar but even bigger positive response from the business community in Kingston,” he said.

“The World Free Zone Organisation coming to Jamaica is a major event. A thousand people are coming. We have hotel services to sell. We have transportation services to sell. We have entertainment services to sell, and they have hard currency to buy. That’s an export business,” he explained.

The Minister encouraged Jamaican business owners to make sure that their companies are represented at the exhibition hall.

“We have foreigners coming. Don’t complain that it’s only foreign booths you see there,” he said.

Jamaica, through JSEZA, was selected to host the eighth staging of the annual event that is organised by the WFZO.

The upcoming conference will showcase global business leaders, multilateral organisations and policymakers, who will share best practices as well as raise public awareness about the roles and contributions that free zones have made to economic growth.

The event will feature several major panel discussions, key among which will be ‘Shaping the Future of Supply Chain Resilience’, ‘Charting the Future of an Inclusive Ecommerce’ and ‘Reforming the Global Task System’.

Individuals wishing to register should visit www.aice2022.com.