The Ministry of Investment and Commerce has announced the appointment of Melanie Subratie as the new chairman of JAMPRO, Jamaica’s trade and investment promotion agency, within the ministry.

Subratie’s appointment took effect on Monday, (July 25), following the resignation of Senator Don Wehby on July 15, 2022.

She is a graduate of the London School of Economics with a BSc in Government and worked as a consultant in the Financial Services Division of Deloitte and Touche before returning to Jamaica.

AN ASTUTE BUSINESS LEADER

Senator Aubyn Hill, minister of industry, investment and commerce, said: “Melanie is an astute business leader, with an impressive career spanning 20 years of both operational and strategic roles in insurance, information technology, telcom, food distribution and manufacturing.”

Hill added that the appointment is strategically aligned with the ministry’s drive to sharpen Jamaica’s enhanced focus on growing exports, manufacturing and creative service capacities, to support substantial growth in export revenue and local employment.

Subratie will lead the JAMPRO board and wider agency in the development and implementation of strategies to assist in attracting investors to be master and subsidiary developers in special economic zones (SEZ) across various sectors and industries, including manufacturing and agriculture, logistics and ICT, tourism, film and business, knowledge and IT process outsourcing (BPO, KPO and ITO).

Subratie is the current vice-chairman of Musson Jamaica Limited, where she has been responsible for developing over 535,000 square feet of BPO commercial real estate. She is also chairman and CEO of Stanley Motta Limited, which has the only all-female board of directors in the region.

Other projects have included a major focus on the development of technology and coding skills among Jamaican youth.

“Her work as co-founder and chair of the Jamaican Girls Coding and Freedom Skatepark is credit to her commitment to Jamaica’s orange economy, particularly in film and animation – a significant area of focus for JAMPRO,” added Hill.

Melanie is a keen angel investor and sits on the board of Bookfusion, and is a board member of First Angels. Since its inception, First Angels has managed 16 rounds of investments with a total of US$2 million for start-up companies in Jamaica.

In underscoring his confidence in her appointment, Hill noted: “We expect that Melanie will use her considerable business experience to support JAMPRO in becoming a best-in-class business enabler and promotions agency, to support Jamaica’s growth in foreign exchange earnings and in the employment of a great many more Jamaicans”.