Business View Caribbean - June 2016 65
volved with the upgrade of the business environment.
We coordinate our efforts so that we all operate in
sync on business-related matters.”
As Jamaica sits at the doorway to the newly expanded
Panama Canal, it has been preparing for the possibil-
ity of becoming the fourth node of the global logistics
framework, joining Rotterdam, Dubai, and Singapore.
Key to that initiative is investment in the country’s in-
frastructure as it relates to logistics - the ability to get
product to market quickly and efficiently.
“Logistics is one of the critical areas of focus for JAM-
PRO,” Edwards states. “We have a department that is
focused on logistics and attracting investments in this
area, and we have made huge strides in this effort.
For instance, there is a private company called Kings-
ton Wharves that is developing its own logistics cen-
ter on the private side of the wharf and has attracted
quite a number of transshipment companies to oper-
ate through their enhanced facility. In addition, there is
the public side of the wharf which was called Kingston
Container Terminal, and which is now called Kingston/
Freeport Terminal. That has been privatized through a
concession agreement to CMA-CGM (a worldwide lead-
ing container shipping company) and Terminal Link (a
port operator). In addition, we have interest from inter-
national companies in dry-docking, in ship provision-
ing, and in developing an LNG hub in Jamaica.
“We are also privatizing the airport in Kingston; and the
airport in Montego Bay has already been privatized,
so you really will have quick connectivity between the
port, the airport, and the road network. We have done
significant work in upgrading the road network in Ja-
maica to the point where we now have proper, modern
highways that allow connections between the different
points in the country.
“Logistics is going to permeate the Jamaican econo-
my. It’s not just going to be about one particular place.
We’re developing a whole complex of infrastructure
and various components that go into building out this
fourth node of the international or global logistics
framework.”
JAMPRO considers itself the ambassador of the Ja-
maican brand and is continually focused on promoting
investment and export opportunities in order to grow
the country’s economy and enhance the life of its citi-
zens. JAMPRO wants the world to know that “Jamaica
means business.”
