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itself helps to put pressure on the exchange rate. Investment tax credits
should be offered to these companies to retain and invest their profits in
Jamaica, including diversification and backward and forward vertical
integration into linkage sectors.
8.
The Caymanas Economic Zone should be implemented without delay
because the previous government had left a template inclusive of a
business plan, design and a raft of local potential land purchasers to expand
their warehousing and manufacturing facilities. The announced intention
for a $30 million feasibility study is an absolute waste of money. This
should be scrapped.
9.
The divestment of the Kingston Container Terminal must be done on a basis
that the new operators are able to attract large scale transhipment activity
involving mega-vessels given our strategic location near the Panama Canal.
Time is of the essence in this important matter, as Miami, Cuba, Dominican
Republic, Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Haiti are all ahead of us with this plan.
10. New steps must be taken with urgency to accelerate the development of
downtown Kingston and Jamaica as a major regional “near shore” financial
centre, to attract businesses from North, Central and South America. The
pending legislation should be crafted to target this market.
11.Commercial banks and other lending institutions must be encouraged and
incentivised to provide affordable single-digit interest rate-pegged funds
for small businesses and small farmers with marketable business plans. The
allowable spreads between DBJ rates and commercial bank lending rates
for DBJ loans should be regulated by the Ministry of Finance.
It is full time that commercial banks step up to the plate and play a
meaningful role in the mission of economic growth and job creation.