KINGSTON, Jamaica —Newly minted president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), Patrick Hylton, says economic growth will be an area of focus for the organisation under his leadership, in an effort to assist the country in achieving high levels of economic growth.

Hylton, who was speaking during a recent courtesy call to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, said partnership with the government, the opposition, and civil society groups will be important to achieve this goal.

“One of the areas of focus, certainly from my perspective at this point in time, is how we as Jamaicans can start to raise our aspirations in terms of the goals that we set ourselves and what we want to achieve,” the PSOJ president said.

Hylton said one of the main ways to do this is to enable more companies to scale and grow beyond the local geography.

“To be able to scale beyond our borders so that we can be selling goods and services across a much broader category of industries to the region…I want us to be able to serve the English and Spanish-speaking Caribbean and to go beyond that, North America, different societies,” he added.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness also agreed that the country needs to expand the boundaries of its economy and productivity and increase the size of targets.

“The private sector is the amalgamation of the entrepreneurial energy and spirit of the country. They are the ones who will effectively implement government policies by virtue of where they invest, how they invest, and the new products that they build. The new opportunities that we create,” Holness said.

He emphasised that the private sector is a critical partner and stakeholder in Enterprise Jamaica.

Amid concerns raised about asset tax, Holness said it would not be fiscally possible or practical at this time.

“I know that there are some concerns about the asset tax. I have seen in various quarters this situation being brought to the fore, but you would understand that at this juncture in Jamaica’s economic history, having also been faced by the third most powerful hurricane ever to be produced by earth that hit Jamaica, that it would not be fiscally possible or practical at this time to do that,” Holness said.

He however committed to continue working with the private sector to achieve the country’s goals.