Caribbean Countries Urged to Be Diligent in Negotiating Foreign Direct Investments

Jamaica’s Special Investment Ambassador to India, Senator Aubyn Hill, says Caribbean countries need to be diligent in negotiating foreign direct investments to ensure they secure offers that are in their best interest.

Citing the People’s Republic of China which has invested heavily in the region, as an example, Senator Hill emphasised that Caribbean countries’ should seek to maximise in this development by leveraging their comparative advantages to, among other things, attracting tourists from the Asian nation, while highlighting the need to bolster trade with in order to boost exports.

He was speaking on the theme ‘The C Factor: Optimizing China’s Role in the Caribbean’ during the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC) 37th Annual Conference, held recently at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Meanwhile, Senator Hill, who is also Chief Executive Officer of the Economic Growth Council (EGC), said recent loan negotiations between Jamaica and China, containing provisions for Jamaican subcontractors to be named, are demonstrative of the extent to which the country is able to benefit from the multiplier effect of investments.

This, he added, is a significant precedent to ensure that other potential investors are aware that with their investment, there needs to be local subcontracting and knowledge transfer, adding that “you must negotiate well when you are negotiating”.

The ICAC Conference, which was hosted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Jamaica (ICAJ) at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston on July 20 and 21, attracted approximately 600 of the region’s accounting and business professionals.

Key focus areas for discussions were information technology; education; business best practices; climate change; trade; and health.