By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE MINISTRY of Commerce, Science and Technology has joined forces with the Ministry of Agriculture to stimulate the manufacture of new products for the US$1-billion-a-year global flavour industry.
To this end, the Commerce, Science and Technology Ministry is now acquiring flavour-manufacturing technology at a cost of some US$300,000 (J$15 million), and the first of their projects is to get off the ground within four months, in Bull Savannah, St. Elizabeth.
"The flavour-extracting technology is called the spinning cone column, and it will be in Jamaica by mid-year," Phillip Paulwell, Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology, told The Gleaner yesterday following a ceremony at La Mirage Hotel, Montego Bay, to mark the official opening of the Western Regional Office of the ministry which is located on the first floor of the UGI Building, 34 Market Street, in the second city.
"We have already purchased it. We are going to enable the farming community to utilise it for the extraction of flavours," he said. "There is a growing market for flavours worldwide, and especially because our flavours are so rich, we believe we have a decided advantage in that area."
Ministry officials are confident that the lucrative flavour industry holds huge potential for the Jamaican farming and business sectors, as the global trade in medicinal plants, plant extracts and flavours now exceeds US$1 billion per year.
The latest collaborative effort between the Ministry of Commerce, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Agriculture is seen to offer much promise in the face of a widening national trade deficit and a slump in output from the productive sector.
Mr. Paulwell, emphasising that his ministry would be shifting its focus to pay greater attention to getting farmers to tap into technological developments and science-related activities, said the private sector needed to plough investments into value-added agricultural projects.
Noting that the Scientific Research Council had done much work with sorrel, sorrel squash, and chutney, he assured the business community that, "we are prepared to sell these formulas to the private sector at a lower price". He went on: "We have a lot of things we want to commercialise and I am sure if we put them in the hands of the private sector, they will be able to make a lot of money from them."
The ministry's Western Regional Office opened its doors to the public yesterday, and according to the Minister, he and Dr. Jean Dixon, the ministry's Permanent Secretary, would be spending two days each month at that office which is to serve western Jamaica.
Although he would be there only in the third week of every month, Mr. Paulwell is giving the assurance that an employee from the ministry would be there every day of the week, to schedule with the Minister and answer queries from the business community and the public.
"I will have an open-door policy (in Montego Bay) as I have in Kingston and it doesn't matter at what level of business you are - whether you are formal or informal - we are here to address your concerns," he said. The shift of services by his ministry to the second city was a cost-effective strategy, he said. The Western Regional Office shares space with the Montego Bay branch of the Bureau of Standards.
