(JIS)-Minister of Industry and Tourism, Aloun Ndombet Assamba, says Jamaica is a brand name and many of its products have a competitive advantage around the world.
“Our rum, music, cultural industries, sauces, spices, aromatherapy, agro processing, soft drinks, water, high end fashion, sports, just to name a few, are second to none,” said Minister Assamba.
The Industry and Tourism Minister was addressing a group of Jamaicans at a community forum held at the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) center in Toronto, Canada recently. The forum was hosted by Jamaica’s Consul General to Toronto, Vivia Betton. Assamba was in Canada to take part in a series of meetings and events, accompanied by Director of Tourism, Mr. Paul Pennicook and Director General in the Ministry Carrole Guntley.
Assamba said Jamaicans had made a great impact on the world in many areas, especially in music and sport. She credited the talents and expertise of Jamaicans for their success in excelling at what they did. “We had the temerity and nerve to put a bobsled team in the Olympics. That’s what being Jamaican is about. We don’t have snow but we enter a sport that you need snow in order to compete. That’s what the Jamaican psyche is all about”.
The Minister noted that sometimes Jamaicans were so burdened with negative issues, that they forgot the positives.
Thanking Jamaicans living overseas for their generous contributions to the country of their birth, especially to schools and hospitals, the Minister said another area that Jamaicans in the Diaspora could make a contribution to was the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).
“I am asking you to give generously to the police,” she pleaded. “I want you to support the police. Our force needs resources.” She commended the Jamaican Diaspora-Canada Foundation (JDCF) for its plans to create scholarships for members of the JCF.
Minister Assamba also suggested that Jamaicans living overseas can get together with Jamaican communities to develop attractions since visitors increasingly wanted more than “just sun, sea and sand”.
Highlighting some of the positive developments taking place in the island at this time, Minister Assamba mentioned infrastructure, including repairs to the main roads and the continued construction of new highways, refurbishing of the Norman Manley International Airport, ongoing discussions about reviving the railway system, the opening up of the telecoms market and the Information Technology (IT) sector.
The Industry and Tourism Minister said Jamaica had become a country that recognized the need for education and skills development, and would experience an education revolution.
