Prime Minister Andrew Holness has declared that the last decade in Jamaica was defined by setting in place economic stability, and now that a third term has been secured, the aim is to spur growth and have the economy firing on all cylinders.

Jamaica’s growth can no longer be at around 1 per cent a year; it now has to be motoring at around 4 per cent per annum.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Senator Aubyn Hill has long proclaimed the importance of increasing Jamaica’s exports and that the country’s population number is prohibitive as far as earnings are concerned. The economy must look outward.

Speaking at a press conference at the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce in Kingston earlier this week, Minister Aubyn Hill returned to the subject of Jamaica’s economic growth and the need to improve services.

“We are not going to get rich selling to three million people who have an income per capita of just US$7,000. When you look at Cayman, it has a high income per capita, so does Bermuda at around US$125,000. These countries do not grow yams, mangoes, tomatoes, but you know what they do? They elevate their service offerings, and that is what we are about to do.

“We have learnt a lot from the BPO industry. When you go to the British Virgin Islands,  the lawyers and accountants are very often Jamaicans. The same in Turks& Caicos and the Bahamas. Many of them left Jamaica because we didn’t provide them with the legal ecosystem that would ensure our financial services would grow.. We have just changed the trust laws, all the segregated accounts laws. We are in the process of changing partnership accounts. All that is being put in place so we can become a high-level services sector. Why? Because  lawyers, banks and rich people pay for that service.”

Minister Hill drew attention to Jamaica now being viewed as very trustworthy by the international community. It is no longer on the Grey List and the Financial Action Task Force sees to it that Jamaica is compliant and everything is above board.

The other area where Minister Hill sees growth coming from is the establishment of a logistics hub. He will be going to Asia on a trade mission soon to get countries there to come and invest in Jamaica.

“With the tariff and visa arrangements changing so rapidly in the world, it presents opportunities for Jamaica. We are close to the biggest market in the world, and we are encouraging people to set up businesses in Jamaica and export from here.

“The largest export market is right here in Jamaica, and it is called the hospitality business. The Prime Minister is pushing myself, Floyd Green (Minister of Agriculture) and Ed Bartlett (Minister of Tourism) to make it work for us. We need consistent supply at a reasonable price at our hotels. This means we have to increase our production levels.

“There are a range of services we are looking at. Tourism right now is very strong, but it is risky when all your eggs are in one basket. We have to look to other areas to grow the economy, and agriculture easily comes to mind. In the next two, three, four years, we must be a major services-driven economy,“

Broadcaster Colin Bell makes the point that the creative and entertainment industry should play a bigger role in Jamaica’s economic development and that it is all too often overlooked. Here, Jamaica has a competitive advantage that it would do well to maximise upon, says Bell.

In 2022, the creative and entertainment sector in Jamaica generated approximately US$2.2 billion in earnings, contributing 5.2 per cent to national GDP. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the Jamaican Government allocated J$3.2 billion, with more than half of that going to salaries and travel expenses.