London, England – The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) kicked off a series of Trade and Investment days at Jamaica House 2012 in the North Greenwich Arena, London with a special Diaspora Day forum held on Sunday, August 5th.
President of JAMPRO, Mrs. Sancia Bennett-Templer said that a critical part of JAMPRO’s mission was to engage the Diaspora. “We want to look at how we could renew our commitment to work with the Diaspora so that we can use this opportunity, the convergence of our 50th, of the Olympics to build Brand Jamaica globally.”
Mrs. Bennett-Templer said JAMPRO wanted to leverage the experience, wealth and business connections of the Diaspora for the continued development of Jamaica and the Diaspora. She told the forum that JAMPRO had developed a Diaspora Business Development Strategy that would be rolled out in the coming months.
“It speaks to how we can engage the Diaspora for business and we are very, very committed to that”, she added.
Mrs. Bennett Templer said that among other things, the Strategy looked at how JAMPRO can disseminate information on investment opportunities in Jamaica to the Diaspora and how business matchmaking opportunities between Jamaica and the Diaspora can be facilitated. The strategy looks at how the Diaspora can assist in connecting businesses in Jamaica with businesses in the Diaspora.
“We also want to build on the recently launched Caribbean Marketplace Business Competition to see how we can increase the business that is done in Jamaica by the Diaspora”, Mrs. Bennett Templar said.
The Diaspora Day Trade and Investment Forum was attended by close to100 invited, existing and prospective investors and Mrs. Bennett Templer said the response from the audience was tremendous.
“The day went extremely well and I think that the response from the audience has been tremendous and there obviously was a lot of interest. We now have the job to take these discussions forward”, she added.
The Trade and Invest Days are part of a substantial business focused programme organized by JAMPRO to target buyers, distributors and prospective investors during the Jamaica House initiative taking place during the summer Olympics. Other special days will focus on International Investment, the Creative Industries and Sports Business.
Jamaica House, which officially opened on August 3rd, will run until August 12 and also features a ‘Brand Jamaica Display’, showcasing an extensive range of high value, iconic Jamaican products. The thousands of expected visitors will be able to take part in an interactive tour of the island’s history and culture as well as be a part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Jamaica’s independence.
Jamaica House 2012 is spearheaded by JAMPRO, and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) in partnership with the Jamaica 50 secretariat.
