Business View Caribbean
3
if we look at agriculture as a business and a very big
business. So, we are incorporating into this Ministry all
the elements of business, including a great emphasis
on the MSME (Micro Small and Medium Enterprises)
sector. And so, we are viewing agriculture as part of
the business community and our farmers as members
of the MSME fraternity. In this way, we incorporate all
elements of both agriculture and business – which
has worked out very, very well.”
BVM: What particular programs or initiatives are
fundamental to the Ministry’s mandate; how does it
provide support and governance to the businesses
of the island?
Samuda:
“We seek to expand the production of food
and farm produce, ranging from livestock to vegeta-
bles. One of our initiatives is the linkage between the
Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fish-
eries with the Ministry of Tourism, where we have es-
tablished a council that addresses the needs of the
tourism sector. And, in this way, we are able to pro-
duce more of the items that are used by our visitors
to the island, and we retain foreign exchange because
we don’t have to buy them from overseas. So, we are
seeking to use the tourism sector as an export indus-
try. It’s just like exporting to the United States, but we
‘export” to the various hotels within the sector.”
BVM: What percentage of the country’s GDP (Gross
Domestic Product) comes from the agricultural sec-
tor?
Samuda:
“The agricultural sector, by itself, provides
over 30 percent of the total employment in the coun-
try, and is running between seven and nine percent
of GDP. But we are hoping to move that up quite a bit.
Over the quarter, ending this past June, 2016, the ag-
ricultural sector grew by 13.5 percent, and we contrib-
uted, in that quarter, 0.5 percent of GDP growth. So,
we are hoping, and expecting, that with the thrust in
production of agriculture products, that we will contrib-
ute, over the next four years, in the region of two to
three percent of the Gross Domestic Product.”
BVM: How does the Ministry attract new foreign in-
vestment?
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
The Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agri-
culture, and Fisheries
WHAT:
A ministry of the government of Jamaica
WHERE:
Kingston, Jamaica
WEBSITE
:
