Prime Minister Andrew Holness said the US$50 million development of the MJS Industrial & Technology Park represents an entrepreneurial vision that was successful because entrepreneurs had the courage to put their resources behind the project.

However, Holness noted that none of this could happen without the entrepreneurs seeing that there was a stable economic environment in Jamaica. “That is an absolutely important parameter for any of these dreams and wishes to materialise,” Holness said.

The prime minister highlighted that the same approach was taken to develop the Montego Bay Urban Centre because the government’s debt situation had to be stable.

Holness stated that in 2016, the country was at about 130 per cent debt-to-GDP. However, under his administration, the country is at 68 per cent and heading down. “This means that the government is less likely to become a burden on its citizens and businesses.”

However, the prime minister emphasised that incentives are also critical when investing in major projects. “Incentives, in a sense, compensate for losses for a project that wouldn’t make it in the first place, so there is a view about how we should develop, which is to give incentives, and we have struggled with that because incentives can lead to fiscal challenges. You could end up in a race to the bottom. But there are ways to support development. There are ways to encourage industries without necessarily having to give fiscal incentives.

“… between the previous administration and our administration, there was the understanding and agreement as to how we come out of debt and remain out of debt, and that is, we need omnibus legislation to cover incentives. So we give a set of incentives, which are transparent. We know how to access them. There is no problem. That is rolled out both in the omnibus legislation and in the special economic zone legislation under the Special Economic Zone Authority,” Holness continued.

The prime minister also revealed that there are always people who need more incentives to make the business successful. “… Business people would want a well-trained labour force. If the government absorbs the cost of training the labour force, that is a significant incentive for business. So training has an externality. In other words, the government spending on training gives a private benefit to the person trained, but it also gives an external benefit to the rest of the society, including the business… The training of labour and your labour force is one of the biggest assets that any economy can present to investors, and therefore, the HEART Trust NSTA is a critical partner in driving trade. So this project would not necessarily be as attractive without the government’s deliberate and instrumental investment in the training of the labour force,” Holness said.

He further noted that peace and security are other incentives that support development projects, which will become increasingly tangible to the average citizen. “Do you see the weight that crime and violence place on our economic development? Do you see how it suppresses us, and do you see why we cannot be ambivalent in once and for all dealing with the gangs that are in the business of violence?

They are not our friends; they mean us no good, we cannot be ambivalent about it, and they have held down Spanish Town for decades. If we achieve peace in Spanish Town, there will be a rushing sound of investors into this place. Why? Because you have a population that is largely well-trained, you already have basic infrastructure in place, and you have some of the most creative people in and around this area,” Holness added.