Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has emphasised the Government's continued commitment to creating the right investment climate in Jamaica.

"Doing business in Jamaica has become easier and the Government is committed to go even further to make it more easier to attract more investors to Jamaica," she said.

Mrs. Simpson Miller was delivering the keynote address at the Alcoa Women's Network Second Global Leadership Conference for Alcoa's senior management women last week at the Reston Hyatt Hotel in Virginia, United States.

Major projects for hotel industry

The Prime Minister said Jamaica was now receiving increased investments in a number of areas, including tourism, bauxite, telecommunications, transshipment and cruise shipping.

Turning to investments in the hotel sector, she said major projects were under way and that, on completion, some 12,000 hotel rooms would be added, representing a 50 per cent increase in that sector. For the bauxite and alumina industry, the Prime Minister said JAMALCo is expected to produce an additional one million tonnes of alumina per year, with 150,000 tonnes being produced by year end in the first phase of the expansion programme.

"The United Nations performance index of inward foreign direct investments has ranked Jamaica in 17th place in terms of attracting foreign direct investments," she said.

The Prime Minister also pointed out that both the world economic forum business competitiveness index and the World Bank's doing business report rank Jamaica favourably among countries in the region.

She told the audience that there was a greater measure of macro-economic stability, with inflation down to single digits, and that the country's Net International Reserves (NIR) were at record levels.

"My Government is convinced that the basic macro-economic programme that the country has been pursuing is a sound one and will be continued under my leadership," the Prime Minister stressed.