Business

Jamaican Government committed to reducing bureaucracies – Supporting National Export Strategy

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Karl Samuda said to the group that the Government was committed at the highest level to the removal of unhelpful bureaucracies.

“In addition to producing effective good products in economic quantities at good prices you cannot plan unless you remove the bureaucracy that attends them.The process by which we achieve this objective is through the effort put into this process personally by the Prime Minister. He has been very supportive and we feel that there is no better department of government to drive this process than the Prime Minister himself. There is no division between the Ministry of Industry and the Office of the Prime Minister,” Minister Samuda said.


Hon. Karl Samuda

Minister Samuda also pointed to a World Bank report that placed Jamaica in the top third of competitive countries in the Americas.

“Whilst we have our challenges, I am very proud of the fact that within the Caribbean and Latin American Region, the World Bank’s Doing Business Report of 2009 puts us at nine out of 32. We are ahead of some of the giants that we tend to look up to as being the examples that we must follow..We are more competitive in how we do business. Where we fall down is in the area of trade barriers and we are going to work on that,” Minister Samuda said, noting “Cabinet has instructed the relevant ministries to consult exporters, health, agriculture and manufacturing sectors about the removal of trade barriers that no longer serve the interests of export.”

In her statement, Lisa Bell, Acting Deputy President, Jamaica Trade and Invest (JTI) reminded exporters that they are doing business in a new world economic climate and that JTI was supporting by giving entrepreneurs the information that they need to identify lucrative markets and succeed in them.

“The National Export Strategy (NES) seeks to do just that by providing a practical road map of target sectors that focus on those issues that must be addressed to increase competitiveness. Our collaboration with the JEA on the NES and other initiatives is a true model of private and public sector partnership that is critical for achieving sustainable economic growth.”

The event honoured exporters who for the first time attained sales of US$1 million or more over the past year. In his presentation, President of the JEA, Michael Lumsden, acknowledged Government’s recent support of exporters by the tabling of the NES by Minister Samuda and he called on the membership to also give their sustained support. He also noted that exporters should become fully aware of recent trade agreements including the European Union Economic Partnership Agreement EU/EPA and also the Canada EPA that is being negotiated.

Owen Skae, Senior Advisor, Export Strategy Bureau of Policy and Programme at the International Trade Centre (ITC gave a technical presentation noting that the more the workforce is trained for higher skills, the better they are able to support industry.

“Countries that have been commodity dependent, bananas versus going further down the value chain, struggle to make the switch to other sectors when the market turns against them.Humans can learn easier if they have gone further down the value chain by embracing technology and innovation,” he said.

His suggestions included a strategy that considered a wide range of activities.

“A comprehensive approach is what is required.This means that interministerial co-ordination is incredibly important…it is about ministries working together. The public sector needs to listen to the private sector and the private sector needs to learn how to communicate with the public sector,” Mr. Skae said.

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