Israel
Monique Hepburn, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU
MINNA ISRAEL, deputy managing director of Scotiabank Jamaica is predicting that the country is still poised to take advantage of improved global investment trends despite the reported decrease in inflows of foreign direct investment locally.
"More than four out of five international location experts from around the world believe that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is about to take off again, following three years of continuous decline in global foreign direct investment," said Ms. Israel.
She noted that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) figures showed that investment inflows into Jamaica for 2002 at US$470 million, represents a 22 per cent decrease against US$614 million in 2001.
In 2002 foreign direct investment in the Caribbean reached a 36-year low. The UNDP however, said that Jamaica with a listing of 177 foreign affiliates, did better than some sections of the Caribbean and Latin America.
Ms. Israel was speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) Speakers Forum at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay on Friday. "Jamaica has come a long way in putting in place measures to encourage foreign investment and making the approval process for most investment projects less cumbersome and placing no restrictions on normal financial institutions," she added.
According to the Scotiabank Jamaica executive, Jamaica is plagued by several perennial challenges stemming from the cost of transportation and security as well as a relatively volatile labour market. The latter, she said, has caused the closure of at least one foreign affiliate operation in recent times. In spite of this, she pointed out several advantages in Jamaica's favour.
"A survey of 29 U.S. companies doing business here revealed that they considered Jamaica's political stability, the beauty of the island, our warm and friendly culture and our proximity to the U.S. to be among our primary attractions for investments," Ms. Israel noted. "Investors were also attracted to the preferential trade agreements we enjoy."
She warned that although it is important to attract investment it was vital to implement policies to reap maximum benefits from foreign companies while they are in the island.
"We have to attract foreign investors with 'deep pockets' who can finance modernisation and expansion," said Ms. Israel.
A recent release from the United Nations Council on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) indicated that the world's largest transnational corporations say that they are optimistic about the short (2004-2005) and medium (2006-2007) term prospects for foreign direct investment.
