By Ashford W. Meikle, Staff Reporter 
Frankson
THE YEAR-OLD 'Buy Jamaica, Build Jamaica,' initiative is
being stepped up as the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) takes the campaign outside of Kingston with a number of planned road shows spanning the width and breadth of the island. Last October the JMA held a road show at the Emancipation Park in New Kingston.
"Our new thrust is outside the Corporate Area," says executive director of the JMA, Nicola Gordon-Rowe. "A whole series of [road] shows are planned for this year up, between now and the end of November."
The first motorcade/road show will be held in St. Catherine this week on Saturday with stops in Portmore, Spanish Town and Linstead. The JMA will be working with supermarkets and hardware stores in these locales to showcase Jamaican products. A highlight of the road show will be a link forged with Carib Cement Company to showcase its latest product Cement Plus.
Road shows are also planned
in April for St. Thomas and Portland and Manchester and Clarendon in May. In June
the motorcade travels to St. Elizabeth, followed by St. Mary and St. Ann in July. The latter part of the year will see the road show travelling to Trelawny (September) and Westmoreland and St. Elizabeth (in October). "We will be coordinating with the manufacturers in the area ... to come, display and introduce their products to the public."
JOURNEY CONTINUES
JMA also plans to take the campaign to North America and the United Kingdom, as well as the Caribbean this year.
"We'll be going to London in August...and in June we will be
going to Canada," executive director of the
JMA, Nicola Gordon-
Rowe, told Wednesday Business. She said the objective is to "reinforce the message that Jamaica is a force to be reckoned with." According to Mrs. Gordon-Rowe, a number of Jamaican manufacturers will
be participating in the
buyer-seller meets. "We'll be
taking the sellers to the buyers," she emphasised.
The JMA is also looking to expand and consolidate Jamaican products in the Caribbean. To this end, about five Caribbean islands have been targeted for the 'Buy Jamaica,' campaign, including the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The target date for the Caribbean shows is in May and will see Jamaican products such as leisurewear and aromatherapy products being showcased.
