With the Jamaican economy not able to get above two per cent growth for years, the question remains how can things get better and what must be done?

Minister of Industry and Investment Senator Aubyn Hill, at a PSOJ breakfast presentation hosted by Marion Ross at the Terra Nova Hotel, outlined three key triggers for growth and called on the country to get behind them.

Exports

‘We have to grow our exports. Last year, on the occasion of our 60th [independence] anniversary, I asked our researchers to give me the trade figures for the last 60 years, that is for the years from 1962 to 2021. Of the 61 years to 2021, we had one so-so year of positive trade balance and that was in 1966. We cannot continue on our present path.”

“I’m not interested in the slogan, ‘export or die’. I have no intention to die until the Lord takes me. I’m not into the dying part, I’m into growing exports. Not enough people in Jamaica think about exports,” said Senator Hill.

The minister told of how he was dismayed as to why representatives from a local pharmaceutical company did not accompany him on a trade mission to Guyana which abounds with opportunities. According to him, they pleaded ignorance about the mission.

“We cannot get rich by selling to only 3 million people, the majority of which are poor. You only have to look at our GDP per capita when compared with other countries within CARICOM. Jamaica is near the bottom. That cannot last. So I am pushing exports. So if you make coffins export them,” implored Hill.

Investments

The energetic minister has always championed both local and foreign investments in Jamaica and sees this as a way of spurring greater growth. Once an international banker and the former managing director of NCB, he has first-hand experience with the multiplier effect of investments. Hill is a minister with stellar credentials in the private/corporate sector. He has not arrived at his appointment by climbing the greasy pole of politics but rather can bring his experiences as a top executive to the position at hand – which is rare to find in Jamaican politics.

“We must increase investments. We keep talking about a logistics hub. How are we going to get it without investments? How are you going to get the agro-processing that you need to take on in the Dominican Republic? 

“I met with the former President of Dom Rep who is known as the “farmer President of Dom Rep”. The meeting was arranged by Ambassador Angie Martínez who is doing a remarkable job here in Jamaica. The former president sat there and told me they probably have 100 different varieties of avocado of which they have chosen 15 to export. Last year they sold about US$1.5 billion worth of avocados. We don’t think that way in Jamaica.”

“When I got back, the first thing I said to Shullette Cox, the president of JAMPRO, is, I want an outline of investments available for orchard crops. We need to think about increasing the exports of our mangoes. The Dom Rep exports much more than US$1.5 billion worth of their mangoes.”

“I spoke to one mango producer in Jamaica who told me, they steal all his mangoes (praedial larceny) which forced him to lock down his business. We have to work around that. Technology can help combat praedial larceny.”

Trained workforce

One of the often cited impediments to economic growth in Jamaica is the lack of trained employees and discipline among workers. Another is the high number of low-skilled jobs. Addressing this issue, Hill said: “We must train our people so that they can become more competitive. We must expand the tightening workforce. We have to train people as apprentices. Mark Myers will tell you he sometimes has problems finding enough people to work in his many restaurants. We are now at historic lows of 6.5 per cent unemployment but we can do better. We are now working with HEART.  The Prime Minister has told HEART it must not only train people but train with discipline and has brought on Rocky Meade to help oversee that.

“So we must grow our exports, train our people, and get investments in. We have 300,000 to 400,000 mainly young men doing very little, not gainfully employed. Many of them just twist ganja in their hands. We need to take them out of the communities and train them, give them stipends and get them into the workforce.”

Senator Hill pointed out that although there has been much talk of a logistics hub, a lot more can be done.

“We keep working on the economic eco-system that will be needed to support the logistics centre. So yes, we grew our economy 8.1 per cent in 2021/22, 3.8 per cent so far this year. So we are better than we were before the pandemic. We are building, bolstering our imports and infrastructure. We are spending J$70 billion in Montego Bay. We have invested in roads, ports, and hospitals.

“We now have stronger banking systems. Going through the turmoil of the pandemic, we are now at a place where the Jamaican dollar has gained value against the US dollar. Banks no longer just take the one-way road and say long in US dollars.

We still have a robust legal system all the way to the Privy Council and investors like it. We have made progress,” said the minister.