Durrant Pate/Contributor

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) is being heralded as one of those features of local investment prospects in which the Jamaican Diaspora is being urged to greatly invest and participate.

Business interests in the diaspora are being encouraged to participate in the JSE by not only trading in companies already on the market but also having their entities listed as well.

JSE managing director, Marlene Street Forrest, highlighted many prospects the diaspora could exploit.

She cited one such example, as the latest listing of a small- and medium-sized entity yesterday (June 15), Dolla Financial, which she noted was oversubscribed by 952 per cent.

This, she highlighted suggests that “people are looking for good investments. What that means is that our diaspora can take advantage of these investments. Not only are we able to list local businesses… [but] if the diasporans have businesses overseas that want to list on our market, why not list in Jamaica, get capital and grow in Jamaica? This is [an invitation] that we are [extending to them].”

The JSE managing director was speaking on Wednesday during a ‘Riverside Chat’, as part of the Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference.

Digital assets platform coming

She announced that the JSE will shortly be launching more products on the market to facilitate greater access to its services, among these, the direct market access and digital asset platforms. According to Street-Forrest, “we understand that there is much more room to serve you [Dioasporeans as well as locals], and we intend to do that.”

She encouraged participants in the Diaspora Conference, which is being held face-to-face and online, to visit the JSE’s revamped website, for further information and the entity’s e-campus to get certified.

The three-day Jamaica 60 Diaspora Conference under the theme ‘Reigniting a Nation for Greatness’, which is being hosted at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in downtown Kingston, ends today, June 16.