By Robert Stephens, ContributorWITH AN abundance of talent and natural assets what we now need to do is mould this into a vision to guide our sustainable economic and social development and prosperity. This I would like to attempt and hope that this will inspire other thoughts and actions to focus our attention on our future in a global environment.
By this I hope we will have less of an emphasis on parochial events and people and more of a global focus in our outlook.
Some components of the vision of Jamaica on a path of our sustainable economic and social development, include our transformation into the distribution/ trans-shipment hub of the Americas.
The port of Kingston is strategically situated on the North/ South East/West axis through the Caribbean and is just 600 miles north of the Panama Canal. Due to the location of the Port of Kingston the seventh largest natural harbour in the world, as well as Jamaica's location in the Caribbean Basin, Kingston is logically the best-suited location to house a commercial free zone, manufacturing hub and distribution/ logistics centre.
CONCEPT
The concept of the distribution hub involves the warehousing, display, sale and distribution of products to identified and targeted buyers. The market for the project therefore entails two distinct categories the client who will occupy space in the free zone to establish their distribution hub and the clients who are buyers of the merchandise and to whom sale and distribution will be made.
Companies using the Kingston distribution hub would move goods through the Kingston Transshipment Port into their warehousing/manufacturing facility in the free zone/logistics centre. Once processed, repackaged and consolidated, they would be sent directly from the zone to the companies clients anywhere in the world either by air or sea.
An added benefit of being the trading hub of the Americas is that we will also have the opportunity to become the shopping hub of the Americas.
Montego Bay is not currently regarded as a major shopping destination. By creating an attractive duty free shopping experience in addition to the 1.5 million visitors who pass through the Mo-Bay hub annually, we can also attract visitors from Latin America who currently travel to Miami to purchase goods. Miami, however, has become congested and is not as inviting as it used to be for Caribbean and Latin American visitors. People are thus looking for alternatives to Miami and the United States on a whole. This opens more opportunities for the establishment of a shopping hub in Montego Bay.
Already we have over two million visitors passing through Jamaica annually via our Montego Bay Sangster International Airport hub, Norman Manley Airport and our cruise ship ports in Ocho Rios, Montego Bay and Port Antonio.
Most of these visitors mainly come to Jamaica for the relaxation offered by our resorts with sun, sea, sand and entertainment. Adding shopping through duty free malls in Montego Bay to begin with and eventually Ocho Rios, Port Antonio and Kingston/ Port Royal/Spanish Town can add a totally new dimension and attraction to the Jamaican tourism product.
MAJOR PULL
Currently the shopping malls of Florida are a major pull for visitors from the Caribbean and Latin America. Most of the traffic going to Miami flies over Jamaica. We can attract some of this traffic by offering a wide variety of competitively priced goods presented in safe and invitingly comfortable environs. The current restrictions and in some cases the hassle of obtaining visas and generally entry into the USA should be viewed as an opportunity for Jamaica.
One of the implications of this strategy, however, is that we will have to move rapidly to expand our air links with Latin America and our people must be prepared to become more multi-lingual or at least move towards a bi-lingual and cultural melting pot of the Americas.
Robert Stephens is the President of Pragma Consultants Ltd. The above is part of a series of articles in which he examines Jamaican investment opportunities.
