KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Board of the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) has announced the appointment of Ms. Diane Edwards as President of the national investment and trade promotion agency, effective September 1, 2013.
In making the announcement to the JAMPRO management and staff, Mr. Milton Samuda, the Chairman of the JAMPRO Board, acknowledged the incoming President as a key acquisition for the Agency given her impressive career and global experience.
A former Trade Commissioner for JAMPRO in New York, Brussels and London, Diane Edwards brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in international marketing and business development.
Diane Edwards
She successfully managed product launches of Jamaican food brands into mainstream markets and conceived and negotiated substantial European Union funding for the innovative ‘Target Europe’ Trade Development Programme, an initiative that positioned Jamaican products in the European market, and subsequently evolved into the five-year Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Equally adept at investment promotions, the incoming President also commenced negotiations with foreign investors Riu and Iberostar, which led to landed investments in Jamaica; and was instrumental in the development of Jamaica’s garment sub-contracting and information and communications technology (ICT) industries.
Diane Edwards will rejoin the agency after completing a highly successful tenure as General Manager and Director of J. Wray & Nephew UK Ltd., where she led the organisation to profitability and successfully grew the UK Company’s turnover by 77% for the past 10 years.
Under her leadership, J. Wray and Nephew (UK) expanded well beyond its small beginnings in the Jamaican ethnic market into a truly national distributor and brand builder of premium products. The company also successfully negotiated exclusive UK distribution contracts for spirits brands from other European countries; as well as product listings in over 1,500 bars, restaurants and hotels, and secured listings with the top five UK multiple grocery retailers (Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrison and Asda) and luxury retailers such as Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols.
Ms. Edwards holds an MBA from New York’s Pace University, a Masters in International Relations from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and a BA (Hons) in French, Spanish and German from the University of the West Indies (UWI). She is a member of the UK Institute of Directors, a Trustee for the British Foundation for the University of the West Indies, and an active member of the St. Andrew Old Girls’ Association.
The Chairman of JAMPRO also announced the appointments of other executives of the Agency, namely, Robert Scott, Vice President of Trade and Business Development, and Shullette Cox, Vice President of Corporate Planning and Development.
Wendy Lyttle, Vice President of Finance, MIS and Administration, who is currently interim President of the Agency, and Claude Duncan, Vice President of Investment Promotion, continue in their respective roles.
