Billions through remittances

Data from the Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) have shown that more than US$3.3 billion has been privately transferred to Jamaica through remittance companies, commercial banks and building societies during the past four and a half years.

Although the BoJ could not say what proportion of the transfers came from each country, it is believed that the bulk of it came from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, which has the largest concentration of Jamaicans in the diaspora.

The central bank's data also revealed that there has been a gradual increase in private transfers, which reached US$814.1 million last year, about 13 per cent higher that the US$709.3 million recorded in 1999. In 1998, the BoJ said, the figure stood at US$683 million and in 1997, US$661.2 million. For the six months to June, this year, there were US$465.5 million in private transfers to Jamaica.

Last year, the Financial Gleaner reported that Jamaica topped the list of more than 160 countries outside the domestic markets of the United States, Mexico and Canada, to which Western Union transfers money.

Although remittance companies are usually reluctant to disclose the total amount of money remitted through their individual services in any given year, it is believed that more than a million transactions are done annually by Western Union.

Grace Kennedy Remittance Services, which operates Western Union, is the largest such service in Jamaica, accounting for 95 per cent of the market share of inflows through remittance companies in 1998, and 40 per cent of the total market, according to prior information supplied by the BoJ.

Apart from Western Union, the central bank obtains figures on private transfers from Remittance Express, Quick Cash, Jamaica Air Express, Rapid Remittance, and Capital & Credit Merchant Bank. GKRS also handles outbound money transfers as well as intra-island money transfers.

AMERICAN COMPANIES, SUBSIDIARIES AND AFFILIATES

JAMAICAN FIRM US FIRM ACTIVITY

 

A.B. Kidswear	American Baby	Manufacturers of children's apparel
Alkali Group of Companies	International Salt Company	Manufacturers of salt, chemicals
		and leather
Alumina Partners of Ja.	Kaiser Alumina & Chemical Corp	Mining
American Airlines	American Airlines, Inc.	Airline
American Express International	American Express International	Travel Services
American Home Assurance Co.	American International Group Inc.	Insurance
Antilles Chemical Company	Antilles Chemicals (sub. of Steele Partners)	Manufacturers of fertilizers
Bike Athletic Ltd.	Bike Athletic Ltd.	Manufacturers of athletic sportswear
Blue Cross Shield of Jamaica	Blue Cross Shield Association	Health insurance
Bob's Candies Inc.	Bob's Candies Inc.	Confectionery
Boyken/Mortimer International	Boyken International	Project management
Budget rent-A-Car	Budget-Rent-A-Car	Car rental
Caddy master Enterprise	Caddy Master Enterprise	Golfing
Caribbean Bottlers Jamaica (Coca Cola)	The Coca-Cola Company	Beverages
Cetco Water Laboratories	Mitco Water Labs, Inc.	Water treatment & chemicals equip.
Citibank, N.A.	Citibank, N.A.	Banking
Colgate Palmolive (Ja.) Ltd.	Colgate Palmolive	Manufacturers and dis.of toileteries
Custom Marble and Design	Custom Marble Design	Synthetic sanitaryware made from limestone

D.D. Bean & Sons	D.D. Bean & Sons	Manufacturers of matches
Data Key Processors Ja. Ltd.	International Computer Services, Inc.	Key punchcard systems
DHL Jamaica Ltd.	DHL (USA) Ltd.	Couriers
Diversey-Lever Jamaica	Diversey-Wyandotte Corp.	Industrial detergents and sanitation
			chemicals
Econocaribe Consolidators (Ja.)	Econocaribe, Inc.	Freight handlers
Esso Standard Oil S.A. Ltd.	Exxon-Mobile Inter-American, Inc.	Marketers of petroleum products
Fabcon (Caribbean) Ltd.	Fabcon International	Manufacturers of water treatment
		chemicals
Fargo Electronics Jamaica Ltd.	Fargo Electronics, Inc.	Manufacturers of electronic equipment
Gillette Caribbean	Gillette Corporation	Manufacturers of shaving products
Glaxosmithkline Beecham Int'l	Smithkline Beecham Int'l	Distributors of pharmaceuticals
Goodyear Jamaica Ltd.	Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Company	Manufacturers of tyres
Grains Jamaica Ltd.	Independent	Farming and rice milling
Hilton Kingston Hotel	Hilton International Co.	Hoteliers
Hofmann and Leavy Jamaica Ltd.	Hoffman and Leavy, Inc.	Garment manufacturers
Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort	Holiday Inn Worldwide Bass Hotel & Resort	Hoteliers
IBM World Trade Corp.	IBM World Trade Corp.	Distributors of business machines
IGL Limited	Enron Corporation	Manufacturer of petroleum products
Jamaica Bow Company Ltd.	Independent	Greeting cards & ribbons/bow
		for garments
Jamaica Digiport International Ltd.	ATT (minority interest)	Communications and data processing
Jamaica Energy Partners	Consortium	Providers of energy
Jamaica Flour Mills Ltd.	Sold by Pillsbury, bought by ADM Milling	Flour mill/aquaculture/agriculture
Jamaica Needlecraft Ltd.	Maindenform, Inc.	Garment manufacturer
Jamaica Pre-Mix Ltd.	Ledhgill	Manufacturers of concrete
Jamaica Private Power Company	US/European consortium	Providers of energy
Jamalco	Aluminium Company of Jamaica	Mining
Jickey International Jamaica Ltd.	Jockey International, Inc.	Garment manufacturer
Johnson & Johnson	Johnson & Johnson International	Dis.of toileteries & over-the-
		counter drugs
Kaiser Bauxite Company	Kaiser Alumina & Chemicals	Bauxite mining and shipping
KPMG Peat Marwick	Peat Marwick Mitchell	Chartered accountants
Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus	Le Parker Meridien	Hoteliers
Lindo, Foote, Cone & Belding Comm. Ltd.	Foote, Cone & Belding Advertising,	Marketing and public relations
Maggie Manufacturing Company	PBS, Inc.	Garment manufacturing
Media Track, Inc.	Media track, Inc.	Data entry
McCann Erikson Jamaica Ltd.	Interpublic Group of Companies	Advertising
McDonalds of Jamaica	McDonalds	Food franchise
Mead Johnson	Bristol Myers Squibb Company	Procurement/marketing/advertising &
		distributor for H.D. Hopwood
Microsoft Jamaica, Inc.	Microsoft Corporation	Computer industry
Nabisco Jamaica Ltd.	Nabisco International	Manufacturer & distributor of yeast
		and baking products

National Processing Corporation Data processing

Northwest Airlines, Inc.	Northwest Airlines, Inc.	Airline
Pepsi-Cola Jamaica Bottling Co. Ltd.	Pepsi Americas	Soda and bottling
Pizza Hut	Pizza Hut	Food franchise
Renaissance Jamaica Grande Resort	Renaissance Int'l Hotels & Resorts	Hoteliers
Restaurant Associates Ltd.	Burger King International	Food franchise
Restaurants of Jamaica	Kentucky Fried Chicken	Food franchise
Ritz Carlton Rose Hall Jamaica	Ritz Carlton Rose Hall	Hoteliers
Rose Hall Developments Ltd.	Rollins Leasing Company	Hotel and land developers
Sea-Land Service, Inc.	Sea-Land Service, Inc.	Containerised shipping and trans-
		shipping
Salsa Jamaica Ltd. (Taco Bell)	Tricon Restaurants Int'l	Food franchise
Sealy Mattress Company	Sealy Mattress Company	Manufacturer of bedding furniture
Sherwin Williams W.I. Ltd.	Sherwin Williams W.I. Ltd.	Manufacturer of paints and lacquers
Singer Sewing Machine Company	Singer Company	Distributor of sewing machines
Sportswear Producers Ltd.	Contracted to Hanes Products	Manufacturers of apparel
Standard Data	Standard Data Prep., Inc.	Data entry
Texaco Caribbean, Inc.	Texaco	Marketers of petroleum products
3M InterAmerica, Inc.	3M InterAmerica	Distributors of automotive, home care,
		office supplies, medical products
West Indies Nutritional Corp. Ltd.	West Indies Nutritional Corp.	Blending of animal food
Williamson-Dickie Jamaica Ltd.	Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing Co.	Manufacturers of Denim jeans for
		assembly
Wyndham Rose Hall Hotel	Wyndham Hotel & Resorts	Hoteliers
Xerox Jamaica Ltd.	Xerox Corporation	Distributors of office supplies and equipment