MONTEGO BAY, St James — INDUSTRY and Commerce Minister Christopher Tufton has signalled his intent to embarked on a mission with members of the business sector to transform the psychology of the marketplace which is currently retarding production.

“I feel my challenge as a new minister in this portfolio and working with critical stakeholders like yourself (business sector), is to change the psychology of a marketplace that, frankly speaking, is tightening innovation, is restricting entrepreneurship, is retarding risk taking, which is so fundamentally critical towards the paradigm shift that all of us are seeking in order to create a better Jamaica,” Tufton argued.

Tufton was speaking last week at the launch of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (MBCCI) 2011 Expo.

After a one-year hiatus, the 14th staging of the MBCCI trade fair will be held at the new Montego Bay Convention Centre between October 14 and 16, under the theme “Unleashing Innovation”.

The three-day trade fair show provides a medium for businesses to showcase the best of Jamaica’s goods and services.

Meanwhile, despite many challenges, Dr Tufton cited the stability of interest rates, lowering on interest rates, the downward trending of crime and the building of the Net Internal Revenue (NIR) as areas recording progress over the past three years.

However, despite these positives, the industry and commerce minister bemoaned that fact that “businesses are still approaching the investment climate with some amount of caution”.

“One of the challenges that we face in the marketplace right now which ultimately is a challenge towards stimulating economic activity, is the psychology of the marketplace. It is not that these variables are not currently in place and are not suggesting positives. It is not that those variables should not be encouraging investments or entrepreneurship but people are cautious and they are cautious more out of a history of an environment that essentially has not guaranteed stability,” Tufton rued.