JSEZA on a Mission to Enhance Stakeholder Relations and Boost Jamaican Investments

The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) is on a mission to bolster stakeholder relations and attract more investors islandwide.

To this end, Senior Director of Business Partner and Support Services, Licia Grant, told JIS News that the Authority is set to establish an office in western Jamaica during fiscal year 2025/26.

“What it means is that we will have a much greater presence to provide stakeholder assistance and to execute our marketing efforts,” she stated.

Additionally, Ms. Grant said the JSEZA will continue to advance several ongoing initiatives.

These include an accelerator series which, she explained, “focuses on bringing information to the fore for existing and potential investors in Jamaica and for the SEZ regime”.

Meanwhile, the JSEZA recently hosted a tour of approved special economic zone (SEZ) locations in Montego Bay, St. James, for potential investors as well as law, construction and real estate professionals.

Ms. Grant told JIS News that the tour also served as a real estate showcase for approved SEZ buildings with available spaces for businesses to lease.

Some of the businesses visited included Mercury Wireless, which is a part of the Bioprist Group, and one of its extension locations, the Bioprist Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS), as well as Tekbia Limited and Seven Ten Limited.

“For the spaces that we have shown, they are available for businesses that are desirous of accessing those benefits which are listed by virtue of operating in the spaces that are now available that we’re showing to the potential investors as well as the professionals who help these businesses to identify, operate and maximise on their operations here in Jamaica,” Ms. Grant stated.

She noted that JSEZA provides SEZ businesses with fiscal incentives in the form of reduced corporate income tax, starting with a headline rate of 12.5 per cent, which can be reduced to as low as 7.75 per cent.

The agency also offers duty concession on items being imported for use in SEZ businesses, and zero rating on locally purchased goods.

Ms. Grant said the tour was among several slated for March, with others scheduled for Kingston, Manchester and St. Catherine.

For his part, Founder and President of the Bioprist Group and Indies Group, Dr. Guna Muppuri, who told JIS News that his relationship with the JSEZA began some 11 years ago, expressed heartfelt gratitude for the agency’s support in helping to establish his businesses.

“The beauty of the Special Economic Zone Authority [is that] they will educate you properly as a stakeholder. They make the stakeholder feel very comfortable and they will guide you through how to do the process,” he said.

Dr. Muppuri also underscored the importance of being compliant with JSEZA-stipulated guidelines.

“If you don’t follow the book, you will not get the approvals. If you listen to them and follow the book, the sky is the limit. That’s the kind of preparatory work they do. Without them, it’s impossible,” he said.