Trade Commission Office Holds Forum For Jamaican Community

The Jamaica Trade Commission Office in London will host the first of a series of consultations on Wednesday, October 1 in Birmingham, aimed at the Jamaican community.
These consultations will focus on the range of trade and investment opportunities available for Jamaican nationals in Jamaica, highlight the services offered by the Trade Commission office in London and by the Government’s business development agency, Jampro.Marcia Grant of the Trade Commission, told JIS News that the consultations were in recognition of the need to do more work within the Jamaican community in the United Kingdom (UK).
“It is in response to the many enquiries that we have had. We recognised that we needed to do more work within the community. It is a mandate from our head office (Jampro), that more work should be done within the community,” she said.
She said the agency realised that there was a lot of skills and resources within the community, but many people were not aware of the opportunities that were available to them or how to develop their business ideas.
The first round of consultations, which will focus on Birmingham and the West Midlands, will be held at the 3B Business Complex in Handsworth Birmingham on October 1, November 5 and December 3.
Miss Grant explained that this initial three months would be a trial run, following which the Trade Commission would evaluate the effort to find the best method of meeting the needs of overseas based Jamaicans. It is expected that the series of consultations will then move on to other cities in the UK.
She said word of the consultations has brought about an increase in enquiries and early indications are that the community welcomed the consultations.The Trade Commission office has been asking Jamaican nationals wanting more information on trade and investment opportunities in Jamaica or to discuss business ideas to book appointments.
The consultations are in keeping with a Government mandate, as set out in the National Development Plan, to get Jamaicans overseas involved in investing in the island.