Dr. Wesley Hughes, director general, Planning Institute of Jamaica. - File Prime Minister Bruce Golding will tomorrow officially launch the process of preparing Jamaica's first long-term National Development Plan -Vision 2030 Jamaica.

The event is scheduled for the Jamaica Conference Centre at 2:00 p.m., under the theme Planning for a Secure and Prosperous Future.

Spearheaded by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Vision 2030 Jamaica is expected to put Jamaica in a position to achieve developed country status by 2030.

"The plan is based on a fundamental vision, 'Jamaica the place of choice to raise families, live, work and do business', and on guiding principles which put 'people' at the centre of Jamaica's transformation," the PIOJ said in a statement.

The launch is aimed a public awareness of the National Development Plan and galvanising the full support and involvement of the public in the process.

According to the PIOJ Director General of Jamaica, Dr. Wesley Hughes, "we are developing a multi-sectoral approach with the creation of several task forces".

He added: "Strategic priorities have been identified, as critical elements in fulfilling the objectives of the plan, including the development of human resources, international competitiveness, environment sustainability, health, social protection, national security."

Developmental imperatives

These priorities reflect the emerging developmental imperatives and concerns of the society, some of which were elicited from the PIOJ's Dialogue for Development Series over the years. The PIOJ said it would further actively engage the public through a series of consultations across the island, within the ensuing months.

Jamaica has had a long his-tory of development planning, characterised by a series of five- and 10-year plans. Some of these plans include the 1947-1956 Ten Year Development Plan, the 1957-1967 National Plan, the 1963-1968 Five Year Independence Plan and the 1978-1982 Five Year Development Plan. More recent initiatives include the National Industrial Policy and a series of Medium-Term Policy Framework. The draft National Development Plan is expected to be completed in April 2008. Further consultations are to be conducted with the society before its completion.