Glasgow Business Community Supports Jamaica

The London office of JAMPRO, the Government’s trade and investment promotions agency, has secured the support of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in its efforts to promote Jamaica as an investment and business destination.

Representatives of JAMPRO and the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) accompanied High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (UK), Aloun Ndomet Assamba, on her first official visit to Scotland this week.

JAMPRO’s UK and European Regional Manager, Laurence Jones,  told JIS News that a special feature promoting Jamaica as an investment destination and logistics hub for the Caribbean, will be published in the chamber’s  monthly  magazine that goes out to its more than 1,800 members.

Mr. Jones said that the Glasgow chamber also indicated its interest in working with JAMPRO to take a business mission to Jamaica.

During the two-day visit to Scotland, JAMPRO also hosted a special business breakfast meeting at the offices of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI), where Mr. Jones spoke of some of the benefits available to Scottish businesses that choose to operate in Jamaica.

“Scottish companies…..may benefit from trade agreements between Jamaica and countries in the hemisphere,” he said.  

He pointed out that Jamaica is party to the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), which is a trade agreement, allowing duty-free access to 22 million consumers within the Caribbean. In addition, goods manufactured or assembled in Jamaica may also have market access to the United States pursuant to the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI).

Mr. Jones noted further that Jamaica is a regional trans-shipment and logistics hub,  and is strategically positioned,  to allow Scottish companies to service and tap into a market of 800 million people in the western hemisphere, including the largest market in the world, the United States.

The JTB used the visit to discuss the possibility of hosting a Jamaica House during the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Glasgow.

Both the JTB and JAMPRO organised the successful Jamaica House during the London Olympics, which, in addition to being a hub for supporters of the Jamaican team, hosted a series of trade and investment seminars and served as a marketplace for a range of Jamaican art, food and manufactured goods.

While in Glasgow, the JTB team, which included Regional Director, Elizabeth Fox, visited key city centre travel agents and the largest Scottish tour operator, Barrhead Travel.

The JTB also arranged meetings and training sessions to update key selling partners about destination Jamaica, in the run-up to the booking period for winter 2012/13, and to discuss the plans for future partnerships to increase the number of visitors to Jamaica from Scotland.

By Vivienne Siva (LONDON)