PM Miller invited to tour US businesses by the US Chamber of Commerce

The President of the United States Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, has extended an invitation and an offer to host Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller at meetings with business interests in the United States, with a view to advancing trade and investment discussions between the two countries. 

The offer was made at a meeting earlier today between Prime Minister Simpson Miller and members of the US Chamber at a CEO Summit held as part of the Summit of the Americas currently underway in Cartagena, Colombia.

The members of the US Chamber of Commerce delegation which included Senior Executives from multinational corporations such as Pfizer, Walmart, Exxon Mobile, UPS, Brambles Ltd, Fedex, Caterpillar, IBM and Goldcorp among others expressed interest in Jamaica taking advantage of the window of opportunity presented with the expansion of the Panama Canal, to position itself as a global shipping and logistics hub.

The Prime Minister updated the Chamber of Commerce delegation on Jamaica’s plans to expand its major shipping port, further develop the rail network and other facilities.

"We plan to develop a major economic zone which will comprise modern shipping and transhipment services located within close proximity to Kingston and our main port,”   the Prime Minister told the US based business leaders, adding: “This will be complemented with dedicated transportation hubs and other support services."

Other areas of discussion included agriculture and agro processing, neutraceuticals, health and wellness tourism and ICT, all of which were of interest to the American business executives. 

The Prime Minister was accompanied in the discussions by the Minister of Industry Investment and Commerce, Anthony Hylton; President of JAMPRO, Sancia Templer; Permanent Secretaries and officers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and the Office of the Prime Minister. 

The meeting with the US Chamber of Commerce was one of several meetings being held with key international business interests over the two day CEO Summit with a view to expanding existing business and exploring new opportunities for trade and investment.

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