Diaspora Marketplace to Showcase Local Products and Services

A Diaspora Marketplace will be part of the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference scheduled to take place at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston from July 23 to 27.

Chairman of the Jamaica Diaspora Conference 2017, Earl Jarrett, said the marketplace, which will operate for the duration of the conference, will provide for active business interactions.

“We will literally have a great marketplace where local providers, government and private sector, can offer their products and services,” he said, while addressing a JIS Think Tank on June 6.

He said there is already a 70 per cent take-up of booths, with several sponsors of the conference already booking spaces. Among them are GraceKennedy, J. Wray & Nephew, Jamaica National Group, Victoria Mutual, and National Baking Company.

He informed that a number of government agencies will also be providing information and offering fast-tracked services.

These include the Registrar General’s Department, National Land Agency, Jamaica Customs Agency, Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency, Administrator General’s Department, National Housing Trust and Tax Administration Jamaica.

Mr. Jarrett said space will also be created for micro, small and medium-sized Enterprises to showcase and sell their wares.

“We are creating a concept that we will call the ‘Jamaican bird nest’ where those ‘smaller birds’ can participate in the conference at a significantly lower cost,” he told JIS News.

Mr. Jarrett said a feature of the marketplace will be mounting of electronic boards for the business providers “to put up their products and their messages”.

Business operators interested in setting up booths at the Diaspora Marketplace can contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, 21 Dominica Drive in New Kingston or email their requests to mfaft.gov.jm/conference, dca@mfaft.gov.jm or lisa.ogilvie@caribbeaneventsgroup.com.