News

Partnership aims to boost economic activity between Jamaica and Europe

The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce in Europe (CCCE). The MOU aims to facilitate joint activities between the organisations to increase trade and commerce between Jamaica and the UK/Europe, and to promote European investments into Jamaica.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) covers four key areas of partnership to increase business between Europe and Jamaica. Firstly, the partners have agreed to provide market intelligence and market information, they will also find new partners and facilitate business matchmaking, offer technical assistance and support, and finally, the MOU will enable the sourcing of investment partners and funding.

The CCCE and JAMPRO MOU is a one-year agreement that will focus on projects in key sectors for Jamaica, including Agriculture/Agri-business, Creative industries, Energy, Global Digital / ICT & Knowledge services, Logistics and Infrastructure, and Manufacturing.

This MOU comes as JAMPRO seeks to expand its reach across Europe and widen the penetration of Jamaican products in European markets, which traditionally have performed strongly in the United Kingdom. As they are located in Brussels, the CCCE will be able to provide much needed advice on various trade issues such as trade compliance (packaging, labeling, distribution) and legal matters.

The agreement is timely – JAMPRO is intensifying its activities as Jamaica seeks to rebound from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Europe is high on the Agency’s list of priority markets. Laurence Jones, Manager of JAMPRO’s European Regional Office (ERO), says that this agreement will complement JAMPRO’s export and investment promotions objectives as well as marketing strategies within the European Union.

Jones said the relationship with CCCE has already facilitated meetings with European fresh produce buyers, as well as agribusiness investors who are keen to visit Jamaica in 2021 to pursue their business interests.   

He said, “Partnerships with European business associations is one of the best ways to engage with their corporate members and promote commercial opportunities in Jamaica. These partnerships have supported investment and trade missions to Jamaica resulting in new foreign direct investments as well as export deals. This collaboration with the CCCE will be another critical relationship for us in 2021, as we aggressively market opportunities in the Jamaican logistics, digital services, agribusiness and manufacturing sectors, which we believe will contribute to Jamaica’s economic development.”

The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO)’s mission is to drive economic development through growth in investment and export. JAMPRO is an Agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce.