Excerpt from The Jamaica Observer column published on Monday, July 4, 2022
By Jean Lowrie-Chin
As we scan our social media pages and see the arrows shooting back and forth between the political tribalists, we wonder: How does this affect potential investors’ impressions of Jamaica?
While our athletes train from morning to night to produce world-leading results, others are just producing discord with their bitter posts. For us to reinforce our strong democracy, we can criticise without being disrespectful.
In the meanwhile, there are brilliant Jamaicans in both the public and private sector who are flying our flag high despite the constant griping. Last week I had the chance to visit such individuals, leaving the meetings with renewed hope.
First, we met with Senator Leslie Campbell, state minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade who has been engaging our Jamaican Diaspora in concert with our outstanding Ambassador Audrey Marks. We were impressed by the courteous staff and enjoyed the breathtaking views of the Kingston Harbour offered by their new headquarters. This location should reinforce our commitment to environmental protection as it sits on the very edge of the Kingston Waterfront.
We visited Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro), sharing thoughts with President Diane Edwards who has been engaging international investors at the World Freezone Organization (World FZO) Conference and Jamaicans abroad at the Jamaica Diaspora Conference last month. This comes on the heels of Jampro receiving the Best Use of Partnership Award from the World Trade Promotion Organizations for supporting micro, small and medium enterprises to overcome export challenges. The popular Site Selection magazine has also declared Jamaica “the logistics Capital of the Caribbean”.
We also met with American Chamber of Commerce Jamaica Jamaica (AMCHAM) President Ann-Dawn Young Sang and CEO Jodi-Ann Quarrie. They were upbeat on US-Jamaica partnerships, acknowledging our challenges but confident that we can seize the many new opportunities that are coming our way. In a discussion with Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) vice-presidents Jacqueline Sharp and Adrian Stokes, who is also chair of the PSOJ Economic Committee, we realised the commitment of these high-level volunteers who run successful businesses, even as they engage on Jamaica’s development demands. Led by President Keith Duncan and CEO Imega Breeze-McNab, the PSOJ has dedicated sub-committees that have directly impacted government policy and give practical guidance. Indeed, anyone can go the PSOJ website for a free download of the Jamaica Corporate Governance Code.
Even if we do not occupy positions of power, we can follow these examples and project positivity for Jamaica. The news headlines are bad enough, the crime level is distressing but we can only move forward if we build on what is good in Jamaica. In the words of Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, “There is nothing wrong with Jamaica that cannot be fixed by what is right with Jamaica.”
Jamaica Highlights 