OCHO RIOS, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Audley Shaw, says Jamaica is now a better place for the Diaspora to do business.
Measures have been taken to improve the management of Jamaica’s finances which are of direct benefit to Jamaicans living abroad, he stated. Minister Shaw was addressing the biennial Jamaican Diaspora Convention at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Hotel in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on Thursday (June 16).
“I know that nearly all members of the Diaspora maintain financial links with Jamaica,” he said. Changes have been implemented to facilitate those links and to stabilize the economy, making the links more worthwhile.
One of these changes is the reduction in duty on motor vehicles to 62 percent from as much as 130 percent. For members of the Diaspora, he said, “the savings you will get are greater than the savings you would have got from a duty concession.”
Hon. Audley Shaw speaking at Diaspora Convention.
“We are transforming the Jamaica Customs because we want the customs department to be more responsive to your needs,” the minister stated. The lowering of duties and elimination of concessions simplifies the country’s customs procedures.
Another initiative taken recently was the reduction in estate duties, which impacts directly on those inheriting properties in the island. He pointed out that, “I have now brought the cost of transferring those assets down from 7.5 percent to 1.5 percent.”
A new Banking Bill will allow the Bank of Jamaica to have a greater role in ensuring financial system stability, he stated. The Ministry of Finance is also implementing a central treasury management system to improve government financial management.
These changes come against a background of improving economic stability, he declared. “All of the ducks of macroeconomic performance have been lined up.”
The country has a stable exchange rate, Bank of Jamaica interest rates are at a 40 year low, inflation is in single digits and foreign exchange rate reserves are at historic highs, he indicated.
As well, the structural issues militating against the country’s competitiveness are being addressed. The heavy debt burden has been reduced through the Jamaica Debt Exchange programme, and key loss-making state agencies such as the Sugar Corporation of Jamaica and Air Jamaica have been divested.
“I am confident we are doing all the right things,” Mr. Shaw told the applauding delegates.
Scenes From Diaspora Convention
Earl Jarrett (left), Chairman of the Jamaican Diaspora Foundation, engages the attention of (left to right) Hon. Kenneth Baugh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade; Hon. Marlene Malahoo-Forte, Minister of State in in the foreign affairs ministry; and Mrs. Celia Grandison-Markey, Diaspora Advisory Board Member, United Kingdom. They were participants in the opening session of the biennial Jamaican Diaspora Convention 2011 at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Hotel in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on Thursday (June 16).
Earl Jarrett (left), Chairman of the Jamaican Diaspora Foundation, in discussion with Jamaican-born Mark Braun, United States wheelchair sprint athlete, who is in Jamaica advocating for increasing adoptions.
Delegates in attendance at the opening session of the biennial Jamaican Diaspora Convention 2011 at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Hotel in Ocho Rios, St. Ann on Thursday (June 16).
