The Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honorable Portia Simpson Miller, gave a speech at the Jamaica Investment Forum 2012 and ended it by saying, “Jamaica is ready for your investment and open for business.” The 2-day March forum held in Montego Bays was hosted by the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), the Compete Caribbean Program and the Inter-American Development Bank. JAMPRO is Jamaica’s trade and investment promotion agency, which means its ultimate goal is to attract investors to Jamaica to promote economic activity, job creation and Jamaican citizenry entrepreneurship. On the island known for sand, sea and sun, you’ll find a general determination among private developers and government officials to make Jamaica a global economic player.
When someone mentions Jamaica and economic development in the same sentence, there’s a tendency to first think of tourism. There’s no question that Jamaica’s tourism industry is a powerful economic engine. Jamaica’s geographic proximity to the United States and Canada, the quality of the tourism structure and excellent travel connectivity make this a destination for millions of Caribbean visitors. The exotic island has much to offer vacationers in terms of its beauty and accommodations. However, such limited thinking has no place in today’s Jamaica because tourism is just one component of one economic sector comprising the country’s economy.
Sancia Bennett Templer, President of JAMPRO, focuses on leveraging the already successful tourism industry to attract new economic development and trade. Leveraging efforts concentrate on two areas: business conventions and travelers, and health and wellness. Businesses that locate in Jamaica or hold conventions in the country will find world class accommodations, stunning beaches, state-of-the-art telecommunications, quality roads and excellent airline connectivity to North America.
However, just as much emphasis is being placed on attracting the health and wellness travelers. The Caribbean climate, easy access from North America and excellent healthcare system make the perfect formula for the development of a specialized economic sector. Templer explains, “For health and wellness we are looking at the entire reach from surgery to massages. Jamaica is already positioned in terms of spas and massages, but we are carefully positioning ourselves in the health industry in a way that includes medical procedures. JAMPRO is already in discussion with several groups who are looking at setting up health centers of excellence to provide specialized surgical and other medical procedures in Jamaica.”
What many people don’t know about Jamaica is that health and hospital centers already visit Jamaica to recruit nurses and to work in Jamaica’s institutions because of their excellent healthcare practitioners. In other words, tourism is viewed in a very different light by JAMPRO and the Jamaican government compared to the view by the occasional vacationer.
Developing Human Capacity to Meet Business Needs
Jamaica is redefining itself from the ground up and the future of this country is tied to its ability to train and develop its human resources. Attracting new business is closely tied to developing the workforce so Jamaica is able to compete on the platform of productivity, innovation and competitiveness.
Heart Trust National Training Agency (NTA) in Jamaica was started in 1982 by the Jamaican government. Its initial mission was to train disadvantaged youth, which it still does. However, the agency has evolved, and its mission expanded to encompass adult training also. There are three training modalities, which are institutional based training, community training interventions and workforce training interventions. A fourth component of the agency is public-private partnerships which are formed in support of and to enhance the training modalities. Heart Trust NTA offers workforce training in all sectors from the entry level to the professional position.
As mentioned, tourism is an important business sector and one that many people think of first. However, Jamaica has several other equally important sectors, that include financial, agriculture, creative industries including fashion and arts, information and communications technology (ICT), manufacturing and offshore business process outsourcing (BPO). In each of these sectors the activities of JAMPRO and Heart Trust NTA blend together to develop a business environment with a well trained workforce that attracts foreign direct investments, which can then be leveraged into jobs, entrepreneurships and economic development.
Dr. Carolyn Hayle, Executive Director of Heart Trust NTA says, “One of the great features of Heart Trust is that we can actually develop the necessary talent to meet the needs of a company. For example, we just brought in a major investor to Jamaica in the BPO sector and they train their workers in one of our Academies.” Heart Trust has an extensive network of workforce training facilities that include 13 community oriented Vocational Training Centers, ten sector specific training Academies, the Jamaican German Automotive School and the National Tool and Engineering Institute. There are many examples of successful business partnerships Heart Trust NTA has developed. A good example is the business training partnership recently developed with Caribbean Broilers in the agriculture sector for the growth of pigs and weaners to produce pork and sausage products.
The BPO sector has been highly successful also. The Academies train people to work for specific offshore business operations. For example, there is the Caribbean Cisco Academy, the Blackberry Academy and the Microsoft Academy to name a few. Recently, Convergys Corporation, one of the world’s largest agent-assisted customer service companies, announced it had chosen Montego Bay for the location of its new call center slated to employ approximately 1,000 people.
Resetting for Business Success
The tremendous variety of industries on the island coupled with the highly developed training system makes Jamaica a magnet for foreign investment. During the recent recession years, Jamaica has made good use of the time to reset its business environment so that it’s investor friendly and projects a unique Jamaican brand.
As Templer describes it, “We are seeking to promote Jamaica for each of the sectors based on the unique attributes possessed by each one. When you consider ICT and business process outsourcing, we are the third largest English speaking country in the hemisphere. We have close connectivity to the USA and Canada, which are major global markets. In terms of travel, we are a noon tourism destination, so for businesses establishing operations there’s an ease of movement. We have excellent and recently upgraded telecommunications connectivity.” The litany of advantages brand Jamaica offers includes excellent airlines services, a world class port ready to accommodate the large New Panamax ships once the Panama Canal expansion is completed, and a rich culture of music and cuisine.
In the manufacturing sector, there are many opportunities for niche manufacturing. For example, Jamaica has gained global recognition for its athletes and is called The Sprint Capital of the Caribbean. Puma, the sports apparel manufacturer, told JAMPRO that brand Jamaica has helped them grow their business through association.
Investing for the Long Haul
Templer has a message for investors. “We want investors that can be called ‘patient capital’, which means we want investors who come into Jamaica for the long haul. We want good corporate citizens to make Jamaica their home.” She then proceeds to tick off the names of established companies representing mutually beneficial partners that have been in the country for years and will play equally critical roles in Jamaica’s future success. Nova Scotia bank has been operating in Jamaica for 123 years. Vistaprint, in Jamaica since 2003, recently committed to building a $25 million facility in Montego Bay, which is expected to spur company growth while creating local job opportunities. Digicel, a mobile phone network provider that established operations in Jamaica in 2001, recently moved into its new state-of-the-art environmentally friendly global headquarters in downtown Kingston.
A joint goal of Heart Trust NTA and JAMPRO is to give entrepreneurial Jamaicans the opportunities needed to succeed in business by developing macro-economic forums that are business friendly. Heart Trust encourages, supports and expands on the passage of skill sets from international to local companies. JAMPRO hosts events like the Investment Forum to bring local and foreign business players together for joint ventures and linkage operations. Another valued linkage is to Jamaicans who left the island in past years because of lack of opportunities. In fact, the Jamaican Diaspora connects Jamaicans living abroad with their homeland and Ms. Templer believes that many will return as investment in Jamaica grows and creates opportunities.
Big and Small Investments
All size investors are encouraged to bring their operations to Jamaica. Ms. Hayle with Heart Trust NTA says, “We will work with any size business including small ones. It’s a matter of scalability. Jamaicans are very entrepreneurial and we’re happy to work with the mom-and-pop operation as well as large corporations. For smaller businesses we can bring interns that become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. At the high or more sophisticated end, we broker deals where we bring human capacity to the table for investors like those attending the Jamaica Investment Forum.”
The government is stable and committed to turning Jamaica into a business powerhouse through “robust economic growth and sustainable development with equity,” in the words of Prime Minister Miller. There are investment opportunities for both large corporations and Minority and Women Owned Businesses. Jamaica is a very special country that has already demonstrated its capabilities, abilities and resources, and now it also has the highest quality workforce training program and economic development strategy fully backed by the government. There’s no doubt about it – Jamaica is open for business.