June 14, 2022

The Ian Fleming International Airport in Boscobel, St Mary has received its first commercial flight. The airport today saw the arrival of InterCaribbean Airways from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett was among government officials and stakeholders to welcome the passengers and crew. The airline is scheduled to operate monthly flights but is expected to transition to weekly service later on. At the time of the announcing plans for international flights at Ian Fleming last December, the Transport Ministry indicated that the move forms part of the efforts of the Airports Authority of Jamaica to increase traffic in and out of the island’s smallest international airport, pumping in excess of US$2 million into the Jamaican economy. “This development is particularly important because the largest single employer in the Turks and Caicos Islands is Sandals Resorts, the largest Jamaican-owned luxury all-inclusive resort, with approximately 600 Jamaicans directly employed there and an estimated 6000 Jamaicans and descendants living in the island,” said then Portfolio Minister Robert Montague. Noting the limitations regarding the size of planes that can fly in and out of the airport, it was said that InterCaribbean Airways would offer 30-seater planes.   Source: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20220616/ian-fleming-airport-gets-first-commercial-flight

ST JAMES, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that the Caymanas Special Economic Zone in St Catherine, which will be developed on 650 acres of land, will start for Jamaica 60th anniversary celebrations. “So already, Minister Aubyn Hill has been tasked with putting all the pieces, all the elements together to ensure that we can have this project at least started in significant ways in celebration of Jamaica 60th year of independence,” Holness stated. “We’ve been talking about this project for more than a decade. I’m here to tell you that it will be a reality,” the Prime Minister added. Speaking at the World Free Zones Organisation’s (WFO) Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE) 2022, underway at the Montego Bay Convention Centre Tuesday morning, Holness said the Port Authority of Jamaica has been mandated to get the project done. “Now we have given the Port Authority of Jamaica specific mandate that it must leverage its balance sheet, its experience and know how, it must partner with the private sector, it must de-risk this project and get it done,” Holness stated. “Several years ago the World Bank sponsored a feasibility study of this project and concluded that it will be suited for warehousing and logistics, for ICT and BPO, for robotics and artificial intelligence, furniture, paper products, plastics, repair services, pharmaceuticals, among other such activities. But it just didn’t happen.” The Prime Minister underscored that the Caymanas Special Economic Zone is located in an area with the largest cluster of university graduates in the region. “On another important level which is great feature for the Caymanas Special Economic Zone is that it is located right in the middle of the largest concentration of university graduates in the Caribbean. And it is also located in the middle of the largest concentration of English-speaking people in the region. So it has this natural human capital that can drive into development. We will get this project done,” Holness insisted.

Jamaica is being strategically positioned as a globally competitive logistics hub, and an efficient investment destination, says Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness. According to the Prime Minister, there is a new wave of US multibillion-dollar investments projected for the Caribbean region, which will create myriad opportunities for economic growth and development. Addressing the Eighth Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE), at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Rose Hall, St. James, on Tuesday (June 14), Mr. Holness noted that the country, by way of investments in several key sectors, is on course to capitalise on the projected investments. “I met with most of the world leaders of this hemisphere and heard from the Inter-American Development Bank how nearshoring and friendly shoring will attract more than US$78 billion of new investments and exports, which will create more than four million direct jobs,” The Prime Minister said. “Jamaica is ideally located at the intersection of the east-west and north-south trade routes. Kingston Harbour is the seventh largest natural harbour in the world. Our mission is to leverage these natural assets and position Jamaica as the fourth global logistics mode, comparable to Singapore, Dubai and Rotterdam,” he added. The Prime Minister said significant investments have been made to improve the transportation and telecommunications infrastructure. “We have made significant investments and continue to make transformational changes in our human capital development, equipping our workforce for industry needs and now strategically positioning Jamaica as a globally competitive and efficient investment destination,” Mr. Holness noted. He cited the Kingston Logistics Park and the Flagship Caymanas Special Economic Zone in St. Catherine as key projects that will further advance Jamaica’s global competitiveness. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said countries can use special economic zones (SEZs) or free zones as drivers to recover from the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and other global crises. “There is a natural thrust towards free zones. I would say free zones are at this point critical to the future growth of the world economy. This is the time for free zones to work together to leverage these conditions. And this conference is about working together to take advantage of the new global developments, which are creating opportunities,” Mr. Holness argued. Representatives from 60 countries are attending the five-day conference from June 13 to 17, which features world-class speakers, senior policymakers, academics, multilateral organisations and global business leaders. SEZs are areas within a country that are created to facilitate rapid economic growth, by leveraging tax incentives as a way of attracting foreign investments and technological advancement.   Source: https://jis.gov.jm/pm-says-country-being-positioned-as-global-logistics-hub/