Work In Progress to Establish Closer Ties Between Local Cannabis Dealers and Banks In US

Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Government is working on establishing better relationships between dealers in the local cannabis industry and banks in the United States, for growth of the developing sector.

At the launch of CanEx Jamaica Business Conference and Expo, on Wednesday (September 4), at the Spanish Court Hotel in New Kingston, Mr. Shaw pointed out that the United States has a US$150-million industry for cannabis, which Jamaicans can tap into.

“One of the constraints to the faster growth of the industry for Jamaica is the correspondent banking relationships between Jamaica and the United States,” the Minister noted.

“We have to more aggressively lobby the United States Government, among others, to put in place a formal correspondent banking system for legitimate legal cannabis and medicinal cannabis operators, and I am working on that in an aggressive way with the Ambassador in Washington. We have to demonstrate that we are building a legitimate world-class medicinal cannabis industry here,” he added.

The Minister said that Jamaicans with an interest in the growing cannabis industry and those who have invested, should prepare themselves to compete on the global market.

“This is not a Jamaica platform anymore. We have a global platform on which we have to operate, and that means the standards have to change. We have to begin to do things at globally accepted standards,” Mr. Shaw said.

The Minister commended organisers of the CanEx Jamaica Business Conference and Expo, which will be held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre from September 26 to 28.

“I want to commend the CanEx Jamaica team on the hosting of this conference again and the exposition that is geared towards further highlighting the regulatory, legal, investment and global medicinal cannabis landscape,” he said.

“I think the conference is very important because we’re on a learning curve and this event is an important feature in educating Jamaicans about a real opportunity that is literally taking off in the world,” the Minister said.