Business View Caribbean - October 2015 11
cation in Asia and developed a logistics-centered
economy to become the gateway for international
businesses that want to reach the rest of the Asian
continent. That country’s success today is not in
question. Singapore’s logistics hub is one of the
nodes in the global logistics system. Jamaica has
all the necessary ingredients to become the node
in this hemisphere similar to Singapore in Asia. We
should not allow this opportunity to pass. Time is of
the essence and we need to act now.
The Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce
has been at centre stage in trying to sell Jamaica as
the fourth node in the global logistics system. A sig-
nificant amount of work has been put into this proj-
ect, which, no doubt, has resulted in Jamaica’s logis-
tics index moving from 124 to 70 in 2014, a strong
and positive gain indeed. There is also a logistics
secretariat at the ministry that is spearheading this
initiative. To date, they have done a commendable
job in informing the public about what it means to
become a logistics-centered economy.
Anyone can visit their website to see the vast ar-
ray of literature on the subject. Additionally, there is
a weekly spread in one of the daily newspapers in
Jamaica explaining the 101 of logistics and provid-
ing answers to critical questions that persons might
have on the subject. While the efforts at marketing
and PR for this project is commendable, there is still
more to be done in order to reach the mass of per-
sons who will, no doubt, benefit from this timely
endeavor.
CYNICISM
Despite the progress being made to date, includ-
ing significant improvements in the country’s doing
business and competitiveness scores, there appears
to be a level of cynicism towards this project since
the minister of industry announced in his Sectoral
