• Category

  • Content Type

Advertisement

MOU Between Producers & Consumers Proposed

April 3, 2004

The Full Story

Industry and Tourism Minister, Aloun Ndombet-Assamba has proposed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between consumers and producers that sets out the commitment of both parties to support each other for mutual benefit.
Such a MOU, she said was not necessarily seen as a formal document, but a moral agreement based on principles of symbiotic development.
“On the one hand, it calls on our producers to adhere to the highest standards of quality, customer service and corporate citizenship while providing goods and services at the most reasonable prices,” Minister Assamba explained while adding “for consumers, such a MOU would call for our reciprocation in purchasing from our local producers; seeking, wherever possible, to substitute our purchases of imports with those of our Jamaican producers.”
According to the Minister, who was speaking at the press launch of the ‘JMA/JEA (Jamaica Manufacturer’s Association/Jamaica Exporter’s Association) Expo 2004’, this MOU, though of national importance, was fundamentally one of individual conscience.
The JMA and the JEA will jointly host ‘Expo 2004′, the island’s premier trade show, at the National Arena from May 27 to 30, under the theme “Buy Jamaican”, following an eight-year break.
In commending both organizations on the initiative, the Minister described the launch as a defining moment in the history of Jamaica’s Manufacturing and Export sectors.
“This spirit of partnership among our public and private sectors, trade unions and our professional and sectoral organizations has begun to exert itself in a way that promises to change how we see ourselves; change how we work with each other.and bring a qualitative change in our approach to entrepreneurship, investment and production,” she noted.
Continuing, she cited the JMA’s “Buy Jamaica, Build Jamaica” Campaign, the Jamaica Agricultural Society’s “Eat Jamaican” campaign, the government’s MOU with the Trade Unions and the joint private and public sectors’ initiative on a ‘Partnership for Progress”, as powerful indicators of the willingness of the Jamaican people in pulling together to earn prosperity.
The Minister expressed her satisfaction with the recent initiatives aimed at promoting and strengthening local products and services, noting that the JMA and the JEA were sending a message that “Brand Jamaica” was mighty and ready to reap the rewards it deserved.
“So powerful is the name ‘Jamaica’, that the government has had to move to protect the country’s geographic indication brand name as others have been seeking to fraudulently use the ‘Jamaica’ name and the ‘Made in Jamaica’ label in marketing their products,” she said.
According to Minister Assamba, this was an indication of the premium value of brand “Jamaica” that had been achieved not by chance, but by the efforts of local farmers, manufacturers, musicians, hoteliers, artists and sport heroes, who have been responsible for the word “Jamaica” to be associated with that winning combination of exotic appeal and high standards of quality. The “Buy Jamaican” Expo, she said, was a further call to partnership; to closer collaboration between Jamaican consumers and producers, as we earn our way to prosperity by pulling together.
‘Expo 2004’ will feature 100 per cent authentic Jamaican products and services of the highest quality from the manufacturing, exporting and service sectors.

Last Updated: April 3, 2004

Skip to content