KINGSTON, Jamaica — Entrepreneurs are being encouraged to make use of the country’s culture and heritage for business opportunities.

Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, made the call while speaking at a recent heritage site confirmation ceremony during the recent official opening of Coore’s FESCO Service Station on the Mandela Highway in Kingston.

The new service station is located at a historical site, which was famous for ferry service, the Ferry Inn, and Tom Cringle’s Cotton Tree.

Minister Grange said that the Ministry is looking for “possibilities that exist for the interface between culture, heritage and business.”

“Our heritage site is not just there to look at and to preserve but we can creatively create partnerships in utilising them in the interest of Jamaica’s further development,” she said, noting that the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, an agency of the Ministry, can provide a list of heritage sites and properties that may be considered for creative business enterprises.

“We are open for business,” she said.

Ferry Inn, constructed in 1684, was the place to break the journey between Kingston and Spanish Town, St Catherine, in the days of horse travel.

The Minister said that the construction of a service station at Ferry “is a unique and a winning combination,” and commended owner of the FESCO Ferry franchise, Hugh Coore, for aligning his business with a heritage product and a story.

“It is this resuscitation of a centuries old tradition that makes the investment so unique and begs the question of the extent to which many businesses in Jamaica could reap more success, if there was greater connection between modern business ventures and traditional or heritage constructs whether as properties or as stories,” she pointed out.

“I am looking for this relationship. I am begging the private sector to find something that can connect with the heritage of Jamaica,” Grange urged.