Photo Caption: Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, the Honourable Daryl Vaz and Consul General of New York, Ms. Alsion Roach Wilson flanked by attendees of the Investment Breakfast Meeting held at the Manhattan Offices of the Consulate General of Jamaica on Tuesday, September 24.
The Consul General of Jamaica in New York, Mrs. Alsion Roach Wilson in collaboration with the New York Office of the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), hosted an Investment Breakfast Meeting at the Manhattan Offices of the Consulate General of Jamaica on Tuesday, 24th September 2019. The Honorable Daryl Vaz, Minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation of Jamaica, was the guest speaker at the event attended by investors and investment influencers who have an interest with doing business in Jamaica.
The objectives of the meeting were to apprise the members of the selected participants from within the investment community of the recent achievements of the Jamaican economy as well as of opportunities on the island and the role of the Government in facilitating investors in taking advantage of these.
In his presentation, Minister Vaz highlighted significant gains made recently in the Jamaican economy which included, improvements in the Doing Business Climate in Jamaica whereby the country is now ranked 6th in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index; Forbes Magazine’s recognition of Jamaica as the top-performing country in the Caribbean for doing business; a significant reduction in the unemployment rate to 7.8%; improved fiscal management resulting in the lowering of the Debt to GDP Ratio to 96%; and recent upgrading in January 2019 to B+ by rating agency Fitch.
In light of these economic accomplishments, Minister Vaz indicated that the “Trajectory for opportunities and Jamaica’s economic performance is a positive one”. He outlined that potential exists in Tourism, Infrastructure and Business Process Outsourcing and advised that these are sectors which have been performing strongly.
Following Minister Vaz’s presentation projects being considered by the investors were discussed with him. The Minister committed to having follow-up discussions and encouraged the investors to reach out to him for any support that he and the Ministry can provide. He suggested the monitoring of these projects and recommended JAMPRO as the key point of contact to work alongside the Consulate General in New York in this regard.
