Local manufacturers urged to maintain quality of products

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Karl Samuda, is encouraging local manufacturers to employ the required processes, to ensure their products are of the highest quality that will attract buyers and enable the business to grow and compete.

“A product is only as good as the people who make it, the management skills that are applied to it and the appropriate technology that is introduced, and once we put all those together, we can make as fine a product as anyone anywhere in the world,” the Minister emphasised.

Mr. Samuda was speaking at the official opening of ‘House of Bags’, at the Barbican Centre, in St. Andrew, yesterday.

The Minister contended that producing consistently high quality products will enable manufacturers to be internationally competitive.

He said although he would like to see more things being made in Jamaica and sold to Jamaicans than products brought in from overseas, he recognises that imports are also a part of trade, which is necessary for the growth of businesses.

“Trade is a two-way street – import and export. What we manufacture, if we do not have an effective distribution system, where you have people engaged in activities such as this (trade), you can’t grow,” Mr. Samuda argued.

He pointed out that trading activities set the stage, “for what, perhaps, will form the basis on which we can start to try and challenge international manufacturers in terms of quality goods."

Citing a Jamaican designer who received training overseas and came back to Jamaica to set up his factory, he expressed the view that more producers need to follow suit and “challenge international markets."                                                                      

He commended the proprietors of ‘House of Bags’ for “this bold initiative” and thanked them for displaying confidence in the Jamaican economy.

Chief Executive Officer of House of Bags, Juliet Moss-Solomon, said that the bags currently in stock were manufactured locally. She thanked the Minister for his support.  

CONTACT: ALECIA SMITH