Business View Caribbean | November 2019

21 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN NOVEMBER 2019 JAMA I CA MANUFACTURERS AND EXPORTERS ASSOC I AT ION Around April 2018, the membership agreed that the interests of those manufacturers and exporters would be better represented by a merged entity – now the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association. The overall objectives of the merger were to ensure we have a wider, more efficient range – almost like a one-stop service with the technical competence that would benefit the members; to provide stronger lobbying, as we thought there needed to be greater focus on manufacturing and export by the administration and the government; and to become a stronger entity that could attract, retain, and increase an active membership base. Business View Caribbean recently spoke with Imega Breese McNab, JMEA’s Executive Director, and D’Jamila Ward, JMEA’s Export and Domestic Policy, Research and Information Manager, about the Association’s major objectives and ongoing initiatives that are propelling growth and sustainability in the Jamaican manufacturing and export sectors. The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. BVC: What was behind the merger of JMA and JEA to form JMEA? McNab: “We realized that we had two membership-based associations utilizing resources to serve manufacturers and exporters in Jamaica.