Currently in Jamaica on a trade mission are 17 companies from the twin island nation of Trinidad & Tobago.
The four-day tour of the businesses, which are from construction, food and beverage, logistics, packaging and printing, chemicals and other sectors, is part of an effort to increase and develop bilateral export trade between the nations, according to a release from the moon.
Sen. Aubyn Hill, Minister of Industry, Investment and Trade, welcomed the business delegation on Monday at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston and said Jamaica is a great place to do business.
According to him, business confidence has never been higher, at 18.3 points in the latest survey, the highest level of scores in 20 years.
The minister pointed to Jamaica’s economic growth rate and trainable workforce as key drivers of investment.
In the last fiscal year, the economy grew by 8.2%, and during the second fiscal quarter, which ends in September, the country registered a growth of 4.8%.
He continued, “We are training to make sure that when you come to invest, you have good people working for you. We have… 1.5 million people in the Kingston, Portmore, St Catherine area who speak English, are very young and can be trained, will be trained and are being trained.”
Hill said: “So we have the workforce you can work with; we have a growing economy; we have the fact that people are being hired. Before the pandemic, at the end of 2019, we had 43,000 people employed in the business processing outsourcing (BPO) sector. We now have over 55,000 and are growing quite quickly.”
Minister Hill said the central bank and stock exchange of Jamaica are also well respected.
“This is a place we’re very happy Trinidadians are coming to,” he continued, noting that a delegation from Jamaica will soon travel to the twin island and the Dominican Republic.
Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry for Trinidad and Tobago, called for strengthening ties between Caribbean nations.
“We must continue to make these relations unbroken and strengthen the bond between us in all ways, including business…. We must trade with each other; we must be complementary in the trade we do to ensure that trade benefits both parties,” she noted.
The visit aims to “solidify relations”, according to Tricia Coosal, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers Association (TTMA).
“TTMA always sees Jamaica as [one of] our most valued trading partners in the region; however, we will all agree that this relationship is much more than trade. Today, it has expanded its tentacles to include investment, tourism and even cross-cultural mixing,” the speaker asserted.
She noted that Jamaica’s geographic position, legal system, economic stability and infrastructure make it an attractive location for single and multiple investment as well as trade prospects.
“The country has been identified as one of the fastest growing economies in the Caribbean. An examination of overall trade statistics between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago shows that trade between the two countries has been steadily improving over the years.
“Different goods are exported to Jamaica from various sectors in Trinidad and Tobago, such as food and beverage, construction, printing and packaging. Statistics also show positive growth in trade in goods and services from Jamaica, as well as investment flows to T&T over the past two years,” she added, expressing her hope that the talks over the next four days would be fruitful. and develop into partnerships and joint ventures.
