JNBS Head Urges Local Investments by Overseas-Based Jamaicans

General Manager of the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), Earl Jarrett, has urged Jamaicans based overseas, to give consideration to the advantages and benefits to be derived from investing in Jamaica at this time.
His comments come against the background of current uncertainties in the global financial marketplace, and unprecedented increases in the price of oil and basic commodities.
Addressing a group of United States-based Jamaicans, who attended a JNBS-sponsored Wealth Creation Roundtable session at the New York Hilton Hotel & Towers in Manhattan in the United States of America (USA), on October 24, Mr. Jarrett said that, in light of the prevailing scenario, Jamaica provides a stable investment environment, and gave the assurance that the investments of persons doing business with JN, are safe.
Alluding to the meltdown on the Wall Street financial district, Mr. Jarrett disclosed that JNBS had no business interest with any of the companies affected, and, as such, has not been impacted by the developments.
He noted that market trends and alternatives, outside the United States, present great opportunities for Jamaicans in the Diaspora, and in particular persons nearing retirement, with plans of resettling on the island. He urged them to take advantage of a range of investment options, given the favourable rate of returns.
The JNBS head warned, however, that with as much as 70 per cent of all tourists to Jamaica coming from the USA, and almost a quarter of the country’s exports targeting the American mainland, there is the possibility of some negative impact on the economy, particularly in the areas of remittances and tourism earnings, resulting from the financial meltdown.
“With fewer potential visitors to Jamaica, it will only mean that the (Jamaica) Tourist Board will just have to work harder,” Mr. Jarrett said.
In her remarks, Jamaica’s Consul General to New York, Geneive Brown Metzger, commended the leadership of JNBS for what she described as, “a pro-active approach in reaching out to its overseas client base, and getting a first hand look and understanding of the market forces at work”.
Mrs. Brown Metzger noted that the challenges facing Jamaica and Jamaicans in the Diaspora, resulting from the worldwide financial crisis, “means that nothing should be taken for granted”.
“I want to use this opportunity to invite your participation at the table, as we attempt to move the debate from remittances to investment inflows,” she added.
The New York City Roundtable event, the second of two staged in the northeastern USA, also featured an exhibition of ceramics by Jamaican artists, who are members of the Association of Jamaican Potters.