Gov’t Increasing Engagement with Private Sector on Trade

The Government is increasing engagement with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (JMEA) on trade issues.

The move is in keeping with measures geared at bolstering Jamaica’s trade objectives.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith, said that an updated Foreign Trade Policy has been approved by the Government and will be tabled as a White Paper in Parliament shortly. The revised policy was before Cabinet for review.

The Minister, who was addressing a press briefing at her Dominica Drive offices in New Kingston recently, said that the policy establishes a framework for coordination across various ministries, departments and agencies and serves to ensure the mainstreaming of trade within national development priorities and objectives.

“As a small, open economy, Jamaica needs trade to grow. Trade is important and is, in fact, essential to our growth,” she told journalists at the press briefing.

Senator Johnson Smith said that an action plan has been developed together with the policy, and consultation held with private-sector stakeholders to define the mechanisms for monitoring implementation of the policy.

She said the objective is to “ensure that we are engaged and not only sharing information but receiving information from the private sector at the appropriate levels and with appropriate regularity

“As we know, governments don’t trade; it is the private sector that trades, and we want to modernise our means of consultations of engagement with the private sector,” she added.

She stressed that “it doesn’t make any sense for us to insist on a way that doesn’t work for the private sector if we are truly engaged”.

Senator Johnson Smith said the Government is looking forward “to a new and re-energised engagement with the private sector to the benefit of Jamaica’s trade results”.