aug-2017c

54 55 newsletter. This past year, AMCHAM Jamaica signed several agreements with other organizations that will further serve its mission and its members. One is an agreement with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, allowing all of its local dues-paying members to receive the same benefits that a U.S. Chamber of Commerce company would get. “Which is a great value proposition,” says Abra- hams. “They are paying for membership in AMCHAM Jamaica, but getting two memberships.We also signed a part- nership agreement with JAMPRO, the government agency in Jamaica that deals with trade and investment, so we’re working much more closely with them to promote trade and investment. We also signed an agreement with Delta Airlines to be the official airline for AMCHAM Jamaica, so they’ll be taking speakers to Jamaica and that will help us with the cost, because we’re a non-profit organization.And we signed a partnership with AMCHAM Finland; they have a prod- uct called Launchpad USA,where they AMCHAM JAMAICA gram across the island. Other issues that Vision 2018 will address include: tax and duty matters, market barriers of entry, ease of doing business, economic stimulus, and small and medium enterprise growth. “We have put things in place for 30 years,”Abrahams says in summation. “And now we are going to greater heights by leverag- ing all of our connections –not just in the Ca- ribbean and Latin America, but across the world, so our members will experience value.We are about driving economic growth for Jamaica and making the businesses of our members grow.” have growth companies settling in the United States. So, this year,we plan to go and push for that initiative in the U.S. and to get AMCHAM Jamaica members to be a part of that to settle in the U.S.That is a big part of what we will be doing this year.” AMCHAM Jamaica’s vision for next year is called “Vision 2018.”Among other things, the organization will work to assist in garnering at least 70 percent of the country’s Foreign Direct Investment, (FDI) inflows, and promulgate a major vocational education pro-