Do Business Jamaica

Business Climate

Business Climate

Our economic journey continues to impress the world

Business Climate

With bold aggressive strides, Jamaica’s business confidence is currently the best it has ever been in decades. The country has had extraordinary track record in supporting large-scale investment projects, local and international players continue to tap into the wealth of investment and trade opportunities that the country has to offer. We’ll tell you why!

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International Rankings

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Easiest Place to Start a Business

Jamaica is the 6th easiest place to start a business globally (World Bank Doing Business Report, 2019)

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Easiest Place to Get Credit

Jamaica is the 12th easiest place for Getting Credit (World Bank Doing Business Report, 2019)

Best Caribbean Country

Jamaica is the best Caribbean country for Doing Business (Forbes, 2019 and World Bank Doing Business Report 2019)

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Highest Performing Stock Market

The Jamaica Stock Exchange is the highest performing stock market globally, (Bloomberg 2015 and 2018)

Credit Rating Upgraded

Jamaica’s credit rating is stable (Fitch, 2021; Standard & Poor’s, 2019)

Moved up 6 places

Jamaica moved up 6 places on the Logistics Performance Index (World Bank, 2018)

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Best Destination

Jamaica was voted the Best Destination in the Caribbean and among the 14 best destinations globally (TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards, 2019)

Absence of Red tape

When it comes on to the absence of red tape to stir the growth of businesses, Jamaica is ranked 6th globally (Forbes Best Countries for Business Report, 2019

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Placed 71st / 190

Jamaica placed 71st in the Doing Business Report 2020 out of 190 countries (World Bank)

World Bank Ease of Doing Business

Placed 79th / 140

Jamaica ranked 79th in Global Competitiveness Report 2018 out of 140 countries (World Economic Forum)

BPO Nearshore City of the Year

Kingston named BPO Nearshore City of the Year (Nearshore Americas, July 2018)

Long-Term Foreign Issuer

Jamaica is graded B+ for Government’s Long-Term Foreign Issuer and Local Currency Issuer Default Rating (Fitch Ratings Agency, 2020)

#1 Cargo Movement

Jamaica ranks #1 in the Caribbean and 8th in Latin America and the Caribbean for cargo volume movement reaching 1.5 million TEUs (2017)

Business Confidence

Business and consumer confidence have increased annually by 24.1 and 67.5 points respectively in the last decade.

Infrastructure

Transportation Network

Well-developed infrastructure with world-class highways, airports and seaports

Telecommunication

Robust telecommunications infrastructure with built-in redundancy

Airport

Jamaica’s airport is ranked 4th in the Caribbean region, Skytrax World Airport Awards, 2022.

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Airport Investment

Grupo Aeropuerto del Pacifico launched an estimated US$95 million investment project following its successful bid to operate the Norman Manley International Airport

Port Investment

Third-largest shipping line in the world, CMA-CGM, invested over US$400 million in the Kingston Port

Cruise Port

Caribbean leading cruise port, World Cruise Awards, 2021.

Port Traffic

Jamaica’s ports received approximately 3000 ship calls

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Port Capacity

1.83Mil TEU containerized cargo moved through our Kingston Ports (2018)

Governance

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Stable Democracy

Jamaica has a vibrant and stable democracy with elections held at least every five years

Strong Governing System

Jamaica has clear checks and balances in Government with strong legislative and executive arms, and a wholly independent of the judiciary arm of Government

Accountability

Jamaica has strong political accountability frameworks to deter corruption of officials

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Incentives

Jamaica boasts numerous incentives and trade agreements

Economy

Unemployment

Low Unemployment Rate

Unemployment of 7.1% Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, 2021.

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National Debt

National debt to GDP ratio is 96.3% and has fallen by 13.4% over the last Financial Year 2021/22, according to the Ministry of Finance’s Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy, 2022.

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Fiscal Management

Fiscal management has been evident in the successful passage of the tests under the IMF Stand-By agreement.

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Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Jamaica is the 3rd largest recipient of FDI inflows in the Caribbean (excluding Offshore Financial Centres) and 2nd largest Small Island Developing States (2018)

Investment

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Home to World Brands

Some of the world’s biggest brands call us home! DHL, FedEx, Huawei, Scotiabank and Citibank, are just a few of the large multinationals with offices in Jamaica.

Home-grown Conglomerates

Jamaica remains the home of several locally grown conglomerates including Sandals Resorts, GraceKennedy and National Bakery.

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Foreign Direct Investment

Jamaica’s diversified market economy has accommodated over US$6 billion in foreign direct investments (FDI) over the past 10 years

manufacturing

Manufacturing

Heineken group purchased Red Stripe, a local company, from beverage conglomerate Diageo at a price of US$421 million in 2015

Tourism

Over US$1 billion Investments in tourism since 2018, including projects like Ocean Coral Springs, Princess Hotels, Grand Excelsior Port Royal Hotel and AC Mariott.

Logistics and Infrastructure

Kingston Container Terminal was divested to the CMA-CGM group with an anticipated investment of up to US$500 million

Mining

Jiquan Iron and Steel Company (JISCO) invested US$299 million to takeover the Alumina Partners of Jamaica from Rusal in 2016.

Creative Industries

Jamaica was the location to produce feature films and over 300 film and television projects including BOND25, Yardie , Sprinter, King of the Dancehall , among others

Home to International Brands

Jamaica’s global appeal and investment climate have persuaded a diverse mix of famous multinational corporations to establish operations in the country.

Local Investors

The confidence of local investors continue to grow and so do their investments.

Strategic Access

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Strong air connectivity

Jamaica welcomes 400 international flights weekly from over 40 airlines to major gateways worldwide

Impressive sea connectivity

Jamaica has the #1 transhipment port in the region

Near shore advantage

Jamaica has over half a billion of the world’s population living within a four-hour flight radius

Leading Location

Kingston is the nearshore city of year, and the leading contact centre location in the English-speaking Caribbean, 2018

Talent Pool

English speaking

Jamaica is the third largest English-speaking country in the Western Hemisphere

Creative

Creative

Jamaica’s workforce is known globally for its creative and enterprising spirit.

Cost-competitive

Cost-competitive

Jamaica boasts a cost-competitive workforce

Literate

Literate

Adult literacy rate is 91.7% according to the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, 2021.

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