Business
Jamaica looking at diaspora to kick start economy, investments and growth
Net remittances to Jamaica by Jamaicans abroad. IMAGE/Bank of Jamaica
In a bid to kick start Jamaica’s economy, the island-nation is actively wooing its citizens living abroad to invest in the nation.
On Tuesday, hundreds of entrepreneurs and other Jamaican expatriates mingled with government officials and local business leaders, brainstorming ways to boost growth and development. The sessions were part of a four-day “Jamaica Diaspora” conference aimed at tapping into the wealth, education and know-how of the island’s expatriates.
“This can lead to a roadmap for Jamaica’s future. The people who have come here to this conference have substantial knowledge, connections and interests that can help take the country’s development into many, many directions,” said Lloyd Grey, a retired engineer from Reading, England, who was raised on Jamaica but moved to Britain decades ago.
Jamaica and other Caribbean nations have long suffered from a “brain drain” that has seen professionals and skilled workers head off to jobs overseas.
It is estimated that a least 3.3 million Jamaicans are believed to live outside the country, mostly in the U.S., Britain and Canada.
Roughly 2.7 million Jamaicans live on the island.
Jamaicans in the diaspora send home about US$2 billion a year in remittances in what has become the island’s biggest foreign exchange earner. But Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Anthony Hylton hopes to increase that amount to help strengthen the economy.
