Jamaica has enlisted International Capital Worldwide (ICW), a little-known financing outfit, to start to put together the US$2.5 billion it needs to build out its planned mega development on 1,000 acres of state-owned land at Caymanas in St Catherine, just outside the Kingston city limits.

Jamaica is attempting to tap into what it sees as a US$33-billion trade flow between the region and China, by transforming a portion of Caymanas Estate on the edge of Kingston into a distribution hub and manufacturing zone.

At the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Kingston Tuesday, Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Karl Samuda, signalled the start of the nine-month financing phase for the development, dubbed the Caymanas Economic Zone, saying the Government expects to create some 30,000 jobs.

Partners not named

But ICW director, Joseph Chang, who initialled the MOU on behalf of the financiers, citing confidentiality reasons, declined to name his partners or the companies he said were already lined up to invest in the manufacturing, storage, hotel and recreational facilities envisaged for the land now owned by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC).

But Chang said he represented a consortium of investors based in Hong Kong and North America.

Chang noted that while capital supply has been tight under existing recessionary conditions, interest for the project has been very strong throughout Asia.

"We have had discussions with the largest importer of bulk food and commodities in China," he reported.

"It does not make sense for raw material to be shipped halfway around the world to China and then halfway back."

If it stops in Jamaica, is processed and then sent to China as a finished product there would be significant savings.

Chang said the flow of trade that goes westbound passing Jamaica increased from US$5 billion in value in 2000 to US$33 billion in 2007 and should continue to grow.

Meanwhile, Chang suggested that the total cost of the project could surpass the US$2.5 billion estimated by the Jamaican Government.

"We will be doing a feasibility study. A lot of these elements will be determined then," he said of infrastructure costs.

New entry point

The project, to be located north of the Mandela Highway, is expected to provide warehousing and display facilities, but also include space for light manufacturing.

It will give its Asian backers a new entry point into European markets, according to Samuda, who says it would save buyers from that continent the long journey to China and other Asian nations.

The development is slated also to include units that will service the information and communications technology industry.

And the Tinson Pen aerodrome will be relocated to the area and a rail link built to connect to the nearby port.

Meanwhile, Samuda, noting that the UDC-designed project also includes hotels for visiting investors and golf and polo sporting amenities, said the economic zone would also benefit from the proximity of a pool of labour.

On completion of the financing phase, the zone's design is go to Cabinet for approval, according to Samuda.

"It must also be consistent with the protection of the environment and will be monitored by the UDC, NEPA and other agencies to ensure that when it's finished it becomes the best of its kind in the hemisphere," he said.

The government official is trumpeting the planned development as representing the best place in the region for its Asian investors in terms of shipping, labour, waste disposal and transport. With the pending expansion of the Panama Canal, he said, Jamaica must position itself to benefit from increased regional traffic.

UDC general manager Amanda Joy Douglas, speaking of the ownership structure of the facility, said that would not be decided until the financing was tied down.

avia.collinder@gleanerjm.com