Business Benefits from London will take some time to unfold – Bennett-Templer

Jamaicans are being urged to be patient as the business benefits from the country's participation in the Jamaica House promotions in London, during the recent Summer Olympics, will take some time to unfold.

President of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), Sancia Bennett-Templer, said that while there will be "some new developments in the area of animations for Jamaica very, very shortly,”  it may take up to a year for the country to realise the business benefits gained from the event.

Mrs. Bennett-Templer, who was addressing a press conference at the Office of the Prime Minister on August 31, explained that: “People don’t just talk to you today and sign a contract tomorrow. It usually takes a bit of time, they would want to come in and do their due diligence."

Noting that there are several opportunities that JAMPRO is pursuing, Mrs. Bennett Templer, said she was unable to name the companies due to issues of confidentiality.  She explained however, that there are distinct opportunities coming out of discussions involving the creative industries.

The JAMPRO President also pointed out that her organisation will be working to see how best opportunities can be developed in sports.

“The business of sport is an area that we are going to have to spend a lot of time on going forward. Not only how do we develop a sport marketing strategy for Jamaica leveraging the lessons learnt from this Jamaica House event in London, but also direct business opportunities in terms of infrastructure developments, attractions and so on. So we will be working very closely with the Ministry to look at how we can develop those opportunities,” Mrs. Bennett-Templer said.

One of the events hosted at Jamaica House 2012 in London was a ‘Business of Sports Forum’ on Sunday August 12.

The event saw Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Anthony Hylton, and Minister with Responsibility for Sports, Hon. Natalie Neita-Headley, engaging with a panel of sports experts and former Olympian and BBC Analyst, Colin Jackson.

The JAMPRO head also noted that Jamaica was able to connect with the Diaspora through a trade and investment business forum.

She pointed out that the Diaspora was an important source in terms of trade and the purchasing and distribution of Jamaican goods, especially over the last year when many of the business opportunities either came through them or through companies wanting to target them.