CM July and August 2023 digital

COUNTRY FOCUS
“Jamaica is
not what many
expect. It goes
far beyond
the stereotype
of pirates,
plantations,
beaches and
dreadlocks.”
costs which are among the highest in
the Latin American and Caribbean region,
dependence on energy imports and a
need for investments in renewable energy
and energy efficiency.
A labour market update was
conducted in July 2022 at which time
the unemployment rate was 6.6 percent
among a labour force that was 1,272,700
strong. The March 2023 inflation rate was
5.8 percent.
Business sectors
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Jamaica’s traditional agricultural
industries produce sugar, cocoa, banana
and coffee production. Statista states that
this sector contributed 8.34 percent of
GDP in 2021. DoBusinessJamaica reckoned
that in 2021 the sector was worth $1.2bn
of which $413.5m was exported. Notably,
the same site records that for 2018
those figures were $1.7bn and $329.9m
respectively. Top exports were rum,
sauces, baked products, coffee and allied
products, and seafood.
The sector employed, reckons Trading
Economics citing ILO data, 15.69 percent
of the total workforce in 2020. In
comparison, the percentage employed
from 2009 to 2015 hovered around the 18
percent level but has fallen since then to
where it is now.
For the US Trade Department, Jamaica
imports much – around $1.12bn worth
in 2021. Some 60 percent of food imports
were for the hotel, restaurant, and
institutional sector, while the remaining
imports went to consumers. Key imports
were meat, fruit and vegetables, and
grains and soybeans.
Tourism
Jamaican tourism was hurt by COVID
but seems to have recovered a little. In
2021 there were 1.57m arrivals who spent
around $2.1bn staying in just under 30,000
rooms. However, Worlddata.info citing
the World Tourism Organization noted
that in 2018 and 2019 Jamaica received
around 4.3m visitors a year.
DoBusinessJamaica says that investor
interest in hotel and resort development
should lead to 8,000 new rooms with
5,000 of these to be realised by 2025.
Opportunities in Jamaica include
accommodation, entertainment and
sports tourism, eco-tourism and resorts,
medical and wellness, casinos and
timeshare ownership.
Overall, 58.22 percent of GDP, according
to Statista, came from the services sector
in 2021 and according to a Vision 2030
Jamaica report, Jamaica’s Tourism Sector
is Resilient (September, 2022), tourism
directly employed 175,000 Jamaicans
and generated indirect employment for
another 354,000 – ‘it drives 15 percent of
construction, 10 percent of banking and
finance, 20 percent of manufacturing and
21 percent of utilities, agriculture, and
fisheries.’ Overall, the report says that
Kingston is the capital of the
island of Jamaica, lying on its
southeast coast. In the city center,
the Bob Marley Museum is housed
in the reggae singer’s former home.
the sector has grown by 36 percent over
the past 30 years against a total economic
growth of 10 percent.
Manufacturing
The Ministry of Finance and the Public
Service, detailed in a January 2020 report,
Renaissance of Jamaica’s Manufacturing
Sector, that ‘the manufacturing sector
of the economy has been experiencing
the most robust and consistent period of
growth of any period in at least 25 years.’
However, the same report says that
external shocks caused several quarters
of strong double-digit growth and other
quarters of heavy double-digit decline. As
a result, the Government is implementing
projects to improve irrigation and
storage capacity to alleviate volatility
in agriculture output and mining firms
are investing in retooling their plants
and upgrading capacity to absorb
international commodity price swings.
Overall, the sector now constitutes ‘only
8.7 per cent of the economy.’ In 2022 the
sector generated $1.2bn of which $721.8m
was exported.
The US Trade Department lists a
demand for telecommunications and
data related products, batteries, and
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / July & August 2023 / PAGE 36