Business View Caribbean - Sept. / Oct. 2014

%XVLQHVV 9LHZ ‡ &DULEEHDQ ² 6HSWHPEHU ‡ 2FWREHU -DPDLFD direct investments, to rebuild infrastructure and put new business in. The other one that they’re negotiating is to open up, bring agriculture in Jamaica, which has been very informal, into an organized way, whereby farmers grow to specifications and the products are bought, graded and sold. Because we have a very informal system, a lot of our hotels do not buy locally, they buy agricultural products out of Miami and bring them in, so that’s foreign exchange going out. They are looking for agricultural exports and import substitution. And then they are also going to put in a program which is more medium to long term, to go after the MSME sector, small business sector, but that’s going to take time to build a sector. BV: This doesn’t seem like just an easy job for a guy who had retired, this seems like a full-time endeavor all the time. KENNEDY: It’s a full-time job, yes. BV: How easy is this going to be and how long is it going to take? KENNEDY: It’s going to take anywhere from five to 10 years. The one thing that IMF also stated is that in the past – I think this is the third IMF program that the country of Jamaica has been in – with the other two or three programs, everythingwas dominatedby the government. The IMF, the World Bank and the IADB have said no, you must have a full-fledged partner in the private sector, so the private sector organizations are now sitting on what we call oversight and execution committees – joint committees between the government and the private sector, which is very unique and, by the way, it’s working very well. On the committee, you have a chair, a co- chair who comes from the private sector and a co-chair that comes from the public sector and then four to six additional members from each, so the maximum size of the board is about 12. So you sit down and meet a minimum of once a month. It seems to be working very, very well right now, because what has happened is that private sector people are bringing execution into the mix. The government and civil servants usually are very good at writing papers and project documents and how to apply for funds, but they don’t knowmuch about execution, so this is where we’re at right now. It’s an experiment that we’re trying. BV: This is something that kind of flies in the face of the way things have been done and the scale that you’re going to need to have it done on. Taking off your Chamber of Commerce hat and just looking at it as an observer – do you think this is all going to work out to where it needs to be if we revisit this in five or 10 years? KENNEDY: In five years, I think it has to. I mean, this is our last chance, we don’t have any more room to borrow. Our international financial credit rating as a country is in terrible shape and the only reason that we are going to get FDIs, foreign direct investments, in Jamaica is because you have the sanction of the multi- lateral institutions – they approve the projects. So it has to be done. We have to do it. The current government believes in it and we’re meeting. There are about 18 people in the cabinet and we’re not going to present to the entire cabinet, but what they’re doing is taking two or three people out of the cabinet and saying these are the respective ministers, bring your respective private sector people who know the business and let’s get down and get the projects going. BV: People outside of Jamaica probably have an impression of what the island is and what it’s there for andwhat it produces and things like that, but what are some undiscovered gems in Jamaica that are going to help fuel this reinvention or resurgence or whatever word you want to attach to it? What needs to happen that people don’t already know about? KENNEDY: As far as mining is concerned, I believe we are the world’s second-largest producer of bauxite and aluminum, but we have many, many other minerals. We have some rare minerals. The Japanese have come in here and set up an experimental plant and they’re going after the rare minerals and metals. Our limestone is 98 percent pure. The agriculture – we have a very informal system of agriculture, whereby the farmers now “It’s a full-time job, yes.”