Prime Minister Andrew Holness has suggested that the United States (US) could easily resolve its concerns about the deeping relationship between Jamaica and China by giving the island more attention and pumping more money into its development.

In an interview with Bloomberg today, Holness was questioned about how he intended to navigate a world where Jamaica would find it difficult to maintain ties with both China and the U.S. when the relationship between those two powerful nations is strained.

Holness, in response, stressed that Jamaica has always maintained strong support for multilaterism, though it understood that when there is a divide between wealthy nations, smaller countries suffer.

“Jamaica understands the orbit in which we are. We are in the backyard of the United States, so to speak,” Holness said as he addressed the Bloomberg team via Zoom.

“Our economy is intrinsically and inextricably linked to the United States and so we will always be very close to the United States and very much aligned to the policies of the United States.

“But we have also struck a very good investment and trade relation with China and I believe there is a space for investment from China and from other countries in small countries like Jamaica.

“I think the possible dilemma could easily be resolved with an increase in attention and spending in this region by the United States and I think that would eliminate any concerns that there could be.”

The prime minister’s comments come against the background that, with the island moving away from deficit financing and borrowing, there is a need for foreign investment as well as investment from the local private sector.

According to the UNCTAD’s 2020 World Investment Report, foreign direct investment flows to Jamaica from the US accounted for US$665 million in 2019, a decrease from the US$775 million of 2018.

In the meantime, the island has seen ever increasing investment from China – from the China Harbour Engineering Company’s US$600-million North-South Highway, opened in 2016, to Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company’s (JISCO) US$500 million purchase of the Alpart Bauxite Refinery in St. Elizabeth from UC Rusal. JISCO has also committed to investing more than US$2 billion in several infrastructure development projects, including a 500,000-ton aluminum plant.

Jamaica is also looking to China to establish its fifth generation (5G) mobile technology, a plan which has irked outgoing US Ambassador Donald Tapia, who has continually raised security concerns.

Tapia believes China’s involvement in Jamaica’s communication technology creates a risk too close to home and even claimed recently that China was already using the local Digicel network for eavesdropping.

Digicel has denied the claim.

Addressing Tapia’s concerns today, Holness said: “Jamaica and the United States have a very close security relationship and cooperation and that is something we pay close attention to and, from our perspective, we want to ensure everyone can have confidence that, within Jamaica, communications are safe and secure.”