Jamaicans Encouraged to Renew Their Commitment to the Country

Director General, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Dr. Wayne Henry, is encouraging Jamaicans to use the Valentine’s season as a time to renew their commitment to the nation and fall deeper in love with the country’s potential and the promise of its people.

“Love is not a passive emotion. It is a commitment to action. It requires partnership, trust and shared goals. It is a fuel for the social contract that binds us together and the shared belief that our collective efforts can make Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business,” Dr. Henry said.

He was addressing the second staging of the Vision 2030 Jamaica Love Jamaica Fest, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston on Friday (February 13).

The event was held under the theme, ‘Jamaica My Valentine: Falling Deeper in Love’.

Dr. Henry shared that the aim of the event is to promote national development and celebrate Jamaica’s limitless potential and culture.

He reasoned that Jamaica must place its focus on resilient growth and the ways in which the country can collaborate and innovate to sustain its gains and reduce vulnerabilities, while promoting accelerated growth that can withstand shocks and crises.

“How can we work smarter to capitalize on our cultural strengths to create added value and compete globally?” he said.

The Director General shared that value chain management is a key pillar of modern economies.

“[This is] ensuring a globally competitive brand Jamaica through promoting entrepreneurship, research and development, protecting our intellectual capital, producing goods and services with distinct comparative advantage in efficiency, quality and profitability and expanding our trade relations,” he explained.

He added that digital expansion is especially important for small island developing states, like Jamaica.

This, Dr. Henry said, involves using technology and digitalization to expand and diversify Jamaica’s sectors, products and markets.