FRANKSON
MANUFACTURERS WILL remember 2004 as a year of mixed fortunes. The year started on a high note with the launch of the Buy Jamaican campaign and a continuation of the process of re-positioning businesses to prepare for changes in the international trade environment. The sector posted impressive growth rates of 5.5 per cent for the first half of the year when compared to a decline of 0.4 per cent in the similar period last year. The Planning Institute estimates that the growth for the sector in 2004 will be 2.4 per cent. The JMA had expectations of a higher rate of growth however hurricane Ivan and the fire at Petrojam have reduced the growth potential for the sector. Manufacturers however, continue to ably confront the vagaries of production.
BUY JAMAICAN, BUILD
JAMAICA CAMPAIGN
In February 2004, the JMA launched the "Buy Jamaican... Build Jamaica" campaign with the support of the National Commercial Bank (NCB). The goal of the campaign is to reclaim the home market for certain basic items, reducing the trade deficit, reducing unemployment among the youths, and improving the sector's contribution to GDP.
Several activities were undertaken as part of this campaign, including the successful staging of the JMA/JEA expo after an eight-year hiatus. The event featured over 150 multi-sector booths and received great reviews from consumers on the quality and range of products available locally.
Other initiatives under the campaign included the launch of the Buy Jamaican road show in Emancipation Park, which again exposed consumers to a wide array of local products. One of the positives of these promotional events was that smaller companies, which had not previously participated in organized promotional activities, were now participating because of the success of expo 2004 as well as the improved morale of the sector, which has been fuelled by the campaign.
There were activities that were also geared to the youths to ensure that they were involved in the process of education. These included the Buy Jamaican exercise book project and the essay competition.
POSITIVE IMPACT
OF THE CAMPAIGN
The Association's campaign to assist producers in increasing their local market share, bore fruit when JMA member Marc's by Design, a local clothing manufacturer, won the contract to supply 22,750 pieces of uniform to NCB.
CHALLENGES: HURRICANE IVAN
In September, Hurricane Ivan made an unwelcome visit to our island, and left in its wake extensive structural damage to homes and businesses. Although structural damages were minimal within the sector losses due to downtime were
significant and estimated at $506M.
Manufacturers in the food and agro products group were especially hard hit, as they were unable to source raw material inputs from local farmers. Ackees and bananas were severely affected. Some chipmakers considered importing green bananas, however were deterred by the stringent local phytosanitary measures governing such imports.
PETROJAM FIRE
There was a massive fire at Petrojam in October, which impacted negatively on output of petroleum products for the last quarter of the year. Refinery activities account for 15.7 per cent of the GDP within the manufacturing sector, and it is anticipated that this incident will affect the performance of the sector in the new year. The JMA is anticipating that the repairs to the plant will be completed in a timely manner.
PORT AUTHORITY:SECURITY CESS
In keeping with the requirements of the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) code the port authority informed the business community that it had acquired container X-ray equipment to enable the inspection of containers entering and leaving the major ports with minimum delay. Therefore, effective May 1, 2004 all manufacturers were required to pay a security inspection fee to assist in recovering the cost of this equipment. While the JMA appreciated the need to secure the ports to meet the ISPS code, the association contended that manufacturers were experiencing severe challenges with the double payment of the security cess on both inbound and outbound containers. Some concessions were granted and the JMA remain in discussion with the Port Authority on the issue.
