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Kingston Wharves Limited (KWL) recently signed a service agreement with two leading freight-forwarding companies to expand access to its Click N Collect contactless pick-up service. KWL signed two separate agreements with Jamaica Freight and Shipping Company Limited and Jamaica Trading Services Limited (JTS) to formalise the arrangements for the clients of both companies to have the benefits of the Click N Collect service. Click N Collect is an innovative and simplified cargo clearance option geared towards satisfying the growing demand for a contactless pre-clearance and door-to-door delivery for personal shippers sending barrels, boxes, pallets and other less-than-container-load cargo. Corporate Services and Client Experience Manager at Kingston Wharves Simone Murdock explained that under the agreement, freight forwarders will be able to broaden access to their pre-clearance and door-to door service to clients. They will also be afforded co-branding on KWL’s electronic platforms, and as partner agents, benefit from other promotions of the new service to personal shippers. Murdock underscored that the plan is to sign a number of these agreements with other freight forwarding partners and agents to broaden the access to the convenient pick-up service. Working with partner agents and customs brokers, Click N Collect provides an e-services portal where clients can pay agent fees, customs charges and KWL charges online in a single payment window, and schedule the pick-up of their cargo, without physically navigating the cargo clearance process themselves. Personal shippers may procure the services through their shipping agent or they can contact KWL directly. Click N Collect can be accessed at KWL’s e-services website: www.eservices.kingstonwharves.com. A single window for personal shippers importing cargo through KWL partner agents, the site also houses KWL’s electronic payment options, provides information on charges, and details on KWL’s bank transfer service which allows for direct deposit to its account. “Click N Collect is yet another example of KWL bringing e-commerce solutions to maximise efficiency and safety in the delivery of traditional shipping services. We continue to invest in harnessing digital technology for improved processes, operational excellence and enhanced security. These are now even more relevant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Murdock noted. CEO of Jamaica Freight and Shipping Anna Hamilton was upbeat about the signing. “Jamaica Freight and Shipping is excited to partner with Kingston Wharves Limited on this bold initiative. Click N Collect allows us to offer our customers a more complete, hassle-free, logistic service, with quicker turnaround time. As the global community tackles the COVID-19 pandemic, contactless services are being demanded by the general public. Click N Collect will allow us to more effectively respond to this demand,” Hamilton stated. In the meantime, JTS Managing Director Mitzie Gordon Burke-Green noted that Jamaica Trading was pleased to participate in the programme. “JTS is very happy that we are able to participate in this service, which in the bigger picture will help to reduce the foot traffic to the warehouse, which is especially important in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have taken the bold step in signing the agreement to engage aspects of the Click N Collect service with KWL. I say bold, as this is a completely new service. Having signed the agreement and engaged the service, we are pleased to advise that the service delivery has been efficient, even as we continue to work through teething matters,” she stated.

With social media and the Internet becoming such an integral part in the business landscape, e-commerce has quickly become the ideal way businesses enhance their customer relationship by offering that added convenience factor. Seprod Limited, in an effort to make their products and services more customer-centric, recently launched its e-commerce platform — Seprodshop.com. Seprodshop.com is focused on creating a virtual convenience store experience for customers. “The company decided to make the step in order to keep up with our changing environment and changing consumer behaviour. The move to digital and virtual is not a trend; it is the progression of how businesses must change to continue to satisfy our customers. “Seprod saw the need for the company to have a presence in the e-commerce space and saw demand increasing from our customers locally and in the diaspora. We will continue to innovate and offer new opportunities for our customers to access our wide range of products,” shared Kerrian Johnson, group marketing manager at Seprod Limited. Johnson continued: “Both local and international brands that Jamaicans have grown to know and love, such as Supligen, Betty milk, Serge, Gold Seal flour, the full range of Brunswick products, Kraft, along with so many more, are offered directly from the website. Not only is there a range of food items available on the Seprod Shop, but there is also a wide variety of personal are vitamins and supplements, and pharmaceutical household items. Seprodshop.com also offers recipe suggestions that are simple with that added touch of niceness that you only get using Seprod Group products.” “The company has taken their time to create an online shop that is easy to navigate. Users can simply log on to seprodshop.com, create an account, and start shopping. Your goods are then delivered straight to your door Monday-Friday for the low cost of $450 dollars. Delivery time is within 24 hours for orders within Kingston and St Andrew and 48 hours outside of the Kingston and St Andrew area (conditions apply). Seprodshop.com also offers free delivery for all orders over $10,000. When you order from Seprod Shop you will be gaining value for your money and premium goods and services minus the hassle, and exceptional customer service all in one place. What more could you ask for?”  

Sagicor Bank Jamaica (SBJ) and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to form the Sagicor Bank Business Resource Centre to provide free technical, business advisory, marketing, as well as research and project management services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). With the JBDC being an agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce (MIIC) mandated to drive growth in the sector, this move marks Jamaica’s first public-private partnership arrangement of its kind. The partnership, officially launched on February 24, 2021, was endorsed by minister of state in the MIIC, Dr Norman Dunn, who lauded Sagicor Bank for taking action to assist the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) sector, of which SMEs form a large portion. Citing his experience as a small business owner and the first-hand knowledge of the plight and varied needs of SMEs, Dunn welcomed the partnership and the support it will provide for the multi-billion-dollar sector. “There are about 429,000 MSMEs in Jamaica, contributing 3.5 per cent to GDP and a significant revenue resource for taxes — about 70 billion dollars; but yet still, it (the sector) as always looked on differently by [most of] the commercial institutions that we have in Jamaica… This is a very strategic partnership and I want to congratulate Sagicor Bank — because small businesses turn into large businesses,” expressed the state minister. CEO of Sagicor Bank Jamaica (SBJ), Chorvelle Johnson Cunningham, spoke to the growth potential of SMEs, the specific grouping which the Sagicor Bank Business Resource Centre will cater to. “Sagicor Bank will be a part of the foundation of growth in this country as we work with the JBDC to serve our small businesses. The role of the SME sector is critical to the development of our country and the JBDC and Sagicor Bank will stand with business leaders to ensure that all persons in the sector receive the most suitable advice that will help them to run their businesses efficiently. JBDC will be their initial guide where they will know everything that is necessary for them to come into a bank; and for us (Sagicor Bank) it will be to continue the hand holding process,” said Johnson Cunningham. Through the Sagicor Bank Business Resource Centre participating business owners will also have immediate access to other services such as investments, property, health and life insurance products and services offered under the Sagicor Group umbrella. “These companies will grow as we have within Sagicor Group Jamaica, the ideal capabilities for them to be able to launch their business even further, where Sagicor Investments Jamaica can introduce the companies to the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s Junior Market when they are ready,” Johnson Cunningham noted. JBDC Chief Executive Officer Valerie Viera said that “for a long time the MSME sector was seen as people who are in the survival business, getting one loan, to get another loan to get another loan. Today, JBDC and Sagicor Bank have come together to say they are more than a loan; they are a business possibility. Each business has its own needs and we want to customise the package, so it works for the entrepreneurs. It’s a big jump for the sector to get the fulsome support that it needs.” Using the export market as an example of one business model previously less traversed by Jamaicans pre-pandemic, Johnson Cunningham believes the partnership is timely, as businesses owners are pivoting and tapping into innovative and creative ways to promote sustainability and growth in the sector. The Sagicor Bank Resource Centre is located at 6C Constant Spring Road — a facility retrofitted by Sagicor Bank, equipped with an assigned JBDC representative, Sagicor Bank client care representatives, meeting and training rooms. The resource centre which is also accessible online through the JBDC and via telephone, will roll out various business modules over time.

The Caribbean Express, a new multi-billion-dollar submarine cable system being rolled out by American telecoms development firm, Ocean Networks Incorporated, is coming to Jamaica. The Caribbean Express project, an 18-fibre pair subsea cable system linking the state of Florida to Panama, which is just being built out, is also being extended to Kingston. In addition to Jamaica, Caribbean Express will also be rolled out in several other Caribbean and Latin American countries, thus bringing greater connectivity between Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States. The Atlanta, Georgia-based Ocean Networks cable system has announced that Jamaica will be among its regional stops, rolling out its expensive and hi-tech Caribbean Express submarine cable system. However, this will not be done immediately but incrementally. In the initial phase, which is currently in progress, the Caribbean Express network will not only run between Palm Beach, Florida and Balboa, Panama, but with additional landing points in Cancún, Mexico and Cartagena, Colombia. Ocean Networks disclosed plans to build more than a dozen landing points along the route in the coming years in cities such Kingston (Jamaica), Havana (Cuba), George Town (Grand Cayman), Puerto Barrios (Guatemala), Puerto Lempira (Honduras), Bluefields (Nicaragua), and Limón (Costa Rica). The company claims that once launched, the Caribbean Express will be the only system that can offer dedicated dark fiber pair indefeasible right of use (IRU) in the Caribbean market. An IRU permits customer to have exclusive use of fibres throughout the term of a contract. Ocean Networks owns more than 8,000 km of submarine cable systems around the world, mostly in the Western Hemisphere. Multiplexing technology is being used to connect West Palm Beach in Florida, Balboa in Panama, Cancun in Mexico and Cartagena in Colombia with high speed, low latency fibre-optic connectivity. The system will be designed for future connectivity options to other countries along the route. Valued at approximately US$300 million, Ocean Networks has to date already invested significant capital in progressing the route development of the system. The cable system will have connections to the network access point (NAP) and is backed up by a massive data centre operated by Equinix out of Miami. The data centre is considered the primary network exchange point between the United States and Latin America. The project is being financed by investment banking company Commenda Capital, whose founder John Runningen has given the thumbs up to the project. In a recent press release, Runningen remarked that “ONI (Ocean Networks Incorporated) has already received significant subscriber interest from large IT and telecom customers, who are anxious to expand their presence in these new and under-served consumer markets.” He added that the consumer demand for a new submarine cable system between Central America and the US is enormous with traffic nearly doubling every two years.