Business View Caribbean - October 2015 13
centered economy is a sure way to get light manu-
factured goods back on track. We talk about export-
led growth if Jamaica is to become the 21st century
example of moving from austerity to prosperity.
Then, surely, logistics has to be at the centre of this
growth. The gains from the logistics initiative are
just too great for us to not focus on the relevant is-
sues to get the project going.
If Krauck and Anchor are not able to put the nec-
essary financing together to undertake this project,
the critical thing to do is to move to the next best
alternatives rather than waste a lot of time quibbling
over non-essential issues such as signing of a MOU
that seeks to discuss, under confidential terms, the
feasibility of the project happening. In public/private
partnership these things will happen, so we should
not allow them to detain us from getting the job
done.
As a country, our energy should now be spent on
trying to secure deep-pocketed investors (like we
have done with the Kingston Container Terminal)
who can help us to get this initiative off the ground.
This, I submit, is the most germane issue to mov-
ing the logistics hub initiative forward. Importantly,
it must be pointed out that Jamaica did not commit
any resources to these firms (Krauck and Anchor),
so taxpayers have nothing to lose if the firms are
unable to secure the financing for this project.
MOVING FORWARD
Looking ahead, agencies like JAMPRO, the Develop-
ment Bank of Jamaica and other interested parties
need to establish the necessary criteria for the likely
investor(s) for this project and move aggressively
to secure the investment. Similarly, the investment
ministry should invest its time in trying to ensure
that the urgent reforms and institutional re-engi-
neering across the Government are done in order to
prepare for the investments in this critical project so
that Jamaica can reap the long-term benefits.
Further, the domestic private sector should start
putting into place the necessary capacity-building
mechanisms, the re-engineering of their business
processes in order to plug into this hub when it is
realized. The academic community must also start
preparing its curriculum to produce graduates to
meet the demands of this new sector.
Our local media have an important role to play in
sensitizing the population on the criticality of be-
coming a logistics-centered economy like Dubai,
Singapore and other small nations that have used
their unique location to their advantage in driving
economic growth and prosperity for their citizens.
The preoccupation with whether or not the current
parties that have shown an interest in the project
can afford to finance the plans is unnecessary. If it
is shown that they cannot finance the planned proj-
ects, we need to urgently drop them from the watch
list and move on. The investment dollar is out there
and looking for a home. We need to ensure that Ja-
maica positions itself to be that home.
