Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce, says the first 100 acres of land on the proposed Caymanas Economic Free Zone (CEZ) has been fully subscribed by local companies.

"They are all blue-chip companies with the necessary finances to build out as soon as the subdivision is ready," he told Wednesday Business, but did not name any of the companies, nor was it clear whether his reference was confined to stock market companies.

Samuda said, too, that because of demand, the state-owned Urban Development Corporation (UDC) has been asked, and has agreed, to fast-track the subdivisioning of an additional 100 acres inside the 1,000 acre CEZ.

The free zone project aims to establish an industrial estate and export hub on prime real estate on the border of Kingston and St Catherine, in an area known as Ferry.

The complex will accommodate light manufacturing, but is expected to function largely as a distribution hub for the region with warehouse space to facilitate the showcasing of products.

Samuda said the companies that have subscribed to the first 100 acres are in the distribution business, manufacturing and the hotel industry, as well as one company which is in the agricultural packaging business, which, he says, plans to consolidate operations inside the CEZ.

UDC, which owns the Caymanas Estate lands, is currently working on the subdivisioning, which Samuda said should be completed by year end.

In the meantime, Samuda is expecting that structures on the first 100 acres should start going up by the end of the financial year in March.

"The signs are very encouraging," he said.

He had earlier cited recent reports indicating that productivity within the manufacturing sector was on the upswing.

The CEZ is a US$2.5-billion project that the ministry is banking on to create some 30,000 jobs when it takes off.

In late August, Samuda signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with International Capital Worldwide (ICW) to put together the financing in nine months.

ICW represents a consortium of Asian or Asian-linked investors. Director Joseph Chang, who is the face of the group, has declined to name the partners.

Chang says the ICW investors are from Hong Kong and North America.

Interest in the CEZ has been strong throughout Asia, he said, at the MOU signing in Kingston.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com