Business View Caribbean Dec. 2018 / Jan. 2019

28 29 TheMinistryof Industry, Commerce, AgricultureandFisheries–Jamaica Talking Commerce, Investments, Industry, and Jamaica with Minister Audley Shaw A udley Shaw is a Jamaican politician who has been a Member of Par- liament since 1993, and currently serves as the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries. Business View Magazine first spoke with Minister Shaw about a year ago, just after his second tenure as Minister of Finance and The Public Service, a post in which he served from 2007 to 2012, and again, from 2016 to 2018. We spoke with Minister Shaw, recently, to find out about his new assignment, about his new Ministry’s mandate and mission, and about why he switched portfolios and responsibilities. We also wanted an informed update on the current economic climate in Jamaica, and about how some of his programs and initiatives, when he served as Minister of Finance, helped re- vive the country’s economy. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. BVM: Could you provide some perspec- tive on the current status of Jamaica’s economy? Shaw: “The conditions that exist now are much improved over a number of years ago. I think the main reason for that improvement is that the macroeconomic climate is improving; the cost of money for the private sector is going down. There is also less competition by govern- ment for credit, and because of that, the private banking system is obliged to find creative ways to get more financing into the hands of the private sector. “What has happened for far too long is that the government has been crowding out the pri- vate sector from investment by the government,