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Chairman of Digicel Group, Denis O'Brien, is encouraging the business community to help support the transformation of Jamaica’s economy. “The building blocks are there and I think we are at a tipping point right here in this country of really transforming the economy,” he said at a workshop and luncheon for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) held Tuesday (February 15)...

Effective April 4, the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ) will be implementing changes to its fee structure for services related to the registration of business names. Speaking at on February 16 JIS ‘Think Tank’, Compliance Manager of the COJ, Heather Sutherland said that the changes would include increases in fees for some services and the introduction of other services, to...

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Karl Samuda’s  appearance  before the Commission of Enquiry into the extradition of Christopher Coke, today (February 15),  was cut short after several attorneys raised objections about the questions being asked by Queen’s Counsel, K.D. Knight. The Commission had summoned Mr. Samuda to appear to authenticate a press release issued by him in the...

The Jamaica Business Development Corporation’s (JBDC) Incubator and Resource Centre, located at 76 Marcus Garvey Drive, is currently hosting a series of training seminars and workshops, aimed at assisting micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to improve their operations and increase their efficiency. The seminars and workshops, which will be held until the end of April, include manual pattern making;...

An Act to establish the Jamaica International Financial Services Authority for the promotion and development of Jamaica as a Centre for International Financial Services was passed in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday (February 8). Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Karl Samuda, who piloted the Jamaica International Financial Services Authority Act, noted that the Authority will be charged...

The Government is making approximately 200,000 square feet (sq ft) of factory space available for rental to small businesses engaged in manufacturing, as part of initiatives to boost productivity in the sector. “We have under management at the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) 1.9 million sq ft comprising 43 buildings, 21 of which are fully occupied, 14 are partially occupied...

The University of the West Indies (UWI) has partnered with the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) to open a business centre on the Mona campus, which will help people with viable ideas to develop these into successful enterprises. Located at the Old Personnel Building, 4 Gibraltar Camp Way, the facility, which was officially opened on Wednesday January 26, is in...

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Karl Samuda, says there has been stability in the cement industry, and a reduction in market prices, since the introduction of the regime allowing the private sector to import up to 15 per cent of cement for the local market, free of the Common External Tariff (CET). "We have seen where there has...

Government is in discussions with 12 blue chip companies interested in investing in the Caymanas Economic Zone, which is being established in St. Catherine. Making the disclosure at a press conference at his Ministry, New Kingston, Thursday (January 6), Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. KarlSamuda, said that the companies have all expressed an interest in acquiring plots of the 200...

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Karl Samuda says the Government will not be letting up on banks to reduce unfair and exorbitant service fees, and that the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) will expose such practices wherever they are found. Speaking at a press conference at his Ministry's New Kingston offices, today (January 6), Mr. Samuda said the government...

During 2009/2010, 708 charitable organizations took advantage of a six-month amnesty offered by the Companies Office of Jamaica's (COJ) to file outstanding documents. As contained in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce's performance report for its agencies up to May 2010, Cabinet gave approval for the COJ to partially waive fees for the filing of certain documents by non-profit...

The Trade Board, during the 2009/10 financial year, facilitated the export of products valued at US$209.12 million under various trade agreements. According to the report, which has been tabled in Parliament, exports to CARICOM grew by 73 per cent reflecting increased sales of cement to the region. There was a five per cent increase in applications for the importation of...