When the Shoe is on the other foot

[Don1]

See below piece with JLP politicians waxing poetic about the "wonderful" state of Jamaica (could it be as a result of the previous PNP administrations poor performance?) now that they have responsibility for the economy.......

http://jis.gov.jm/commerce_science/h...NT_IN_2006.asp

When in opposition they portrayed Jamaica as a de facto failed state.

Ah Politricks.

[Karl]

See below piece with JLP politicians waxing poetic about the "wonderful" state of Jamaica (could it be as a result of the previous PNP administrations poor performance?) now that they have responsibility for the economy.......

http://jis.gov.jm/commerce_science/h...NT_IN_2006.asp

When in opposition they portrayed Jamaica as a de facto failed state.

Ah Politricks.

Let me post it! Do not want to give Lazie, Maudib, Comment and others of the klan any reason to state the did not read it!

...also wanted to repeat: The JLP came into to power on a bunch of lies!

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Jamaica Attracted US$850 Million in Foreign Direct Investment in 2006

KINGSTON (JIS)
Friday, October 19, 2007


Jamaica in 2006, received US$850 million in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which placed the country fourth in the Caribbean region in terms of FDI inflows.

The information is contained in the World Investment Report 2007, which was launched at the Pegasus Hotel on (Oct. 18).
Other Caribbean countries that placed ahead of Jamaica in terms of FDIs include the British Virgin Islands with US$6.5 billion; Cayman Islands with US$2.9 billion and the Dominican Republic with US$1.2 billion.

The report, which focused on the role of trans-national corporations in extractive industries and its implications for development, noted that in 2006, developing countries attracted US$379 billion in FDIs.

It was also noted that global FDI flows increased by 38 per cent in 2006 to reach US$1.306 trillion. This increase was driven by inflows into developed countries, which rose by 45 per cent to reach $857 billion.

Minister of Industry, Commerce and Investments, Karl Samuda, said that the government would want to see Jamaica placing first in relation to countries receiving FDIs in the region. This, he said, can be achieved by encouraging trans-national companies to invest in Jamaica.

"We are not simply promoting investment in Jamaica in terms of products. We are expanding that to include Jamaica as a brand, as a destination, as a country all that this embraces; the identity of Jamaica as one of the most attractive destinations in the world," Mr. Samuda stated.

Noting that Jamaica has "every single advantage," he said that "we have proximity to the most developed economy of the world; we have infrastructure that in some cases is second to none; we have a stable democracy, sophisticated financial institutions, highly skilled workers and we will be expanding on training of our workers, and we have an environment that is conducive to business."

The Minister said further that the government will be focusing on removing all obstacles to the whole expediting of business activities. "We intend to cut through the bureaucracy and make Jamaica, in addition to being an attractive destination, to being one that is very facilitatory to all commerce whether local or foreign," he pointed out.

The Report, which ranks countries based on their dependency on non-fuel exports, noted that Jamaica's bauxite and alumina exports account for a remarkable 60.5 percent of total exports, making it the fifth most dependent country in the world by this measure.

In the meantime, Minister of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications, Clive Mullings, said that in relation to the mining and quarrying sector, he is "heartened and encouraged by the possibilities, which characterize the sector."

"Jamaica is known to posses a variety of mineral resources. These include bauxite, gold, copper, limestone, gypsum, marble, sand and gravel," said
Mr. Mullings.

He added that the bauxite industry in Jamaica at one stage accounted for 25 per cent of world production. The Minister added that despite the numerous challenges, the industry continues to perform creditably.

"In 2006, total bauxite production amounted for 14.9 million tonnes, the highest production level recorded in 32 years. In this period, the sector contributed to some 5.8 percent to the national gross domestic product. This is significant especially in the light of the numerous challenges the industry faces,"
Mr. Mullings said.

He also noted that Jamaica offers tremendous possibilities and "it is for us not only to look for investors, it is also for us to represent a hope for our people in terms of these investments."
"We must harness our resources in such a way that we can transform Jamaica into a first world society and we can find our rightful place in the global economy," Mr. Mullings stated.

[Gamma]

mi sick of disnow...jah know. can we move on? damn!

[Karl]

mi sick of disnow...jah know. can we move on? damn!

Move on from what to what?

No further mention of utterances from the JLP on "no money"...and, "cannot do"...and, "not changing from the PNP's course" - ...continuing on with the multitude of PNP's plans and programs that they have suddenly found to be worth 'carring on'?

...and, if the JLP stops blaming lack of money and stop saying where to turn...what to do...where does that leave you and the many who claim there was an alternative to the way the PNP where managing the country? ...if the claim is now "no money" to fund the many promises...
...where does it leave all of us? ...where must we "move on" to?

..."the land of pretend the JLP never mis-led and lied"? Wipe our brains 'clean of all the JLP utterances and promises'?

I am thinking we shall find that even if we pretetnd it never happened...difficult? Right?

[Willi]

While everybody busy playing politics, here is whatsee:

Other Caribbean countries that placed ahead of Jamaica in terms of FDIs include the British Virgin Islands with US$6.5 billion; Cayman Islands with US$2.9 billion.

BVI has popn of 25,000 and Cayman...let us be generous and say 60,000.
These are 2 microstates and they are outstripping us. A few years back, TnT used to have the highers FDI in the region, averaging over $2b with major gas infrastructure.

I am still NOT impressed with Jamaica's land based cruise ship investments, aka Spanish hotel chain. We need to do better, much better, both in quantity and QUALITY. These investments should be in high value-added sectors. However, I know we have to crawl before we can run.

[Karl]

While everybody busy playing politics, here is whatsee:

Other Caribbean countries that placed ahead of Jamaica in terms of FDIs include the British Virgin Islands with US$6.5 billion; Cayman Islands with US$2.9 billion.

BVI has popn of 25,000 and Cayman...let us be generous and say 60,000.
These are 2 microstates and they are outstripping us. A few years back, TnT used to have the highers FDI in the region, averaging over $2b with major gas infrastructure.

I am still NOT impressed with Jamaica's land based cruise ship investments, aka Spanish hotel chain. We need to do better, much better, both in quantity and QUALITY. These investments should be in high value-added sectors. However, I know we have to crawl before we can run.

Why is it the suggestion of stop this and do that comes to me? What would be wrong with 'doing this' and 'doing that'?

Do we at this time need to be 'firing' on many different fronts all at the same time? Do we not have the man power and is not the resources out there for that to be attempted? You know I have never heard of a body (Jamaica a body?)...that ignores lungs - shuts down lungs (lungs - vital and necesary?) - while beefing up say...healthy heart (heart - also vital and necessary?)????

Maybe just me silly old Shady Pines 'living'...'living' (rue smile) me?

[Assasin]

the fact that we had that investment and no growth tells the fact about the PNP government that was in office.

It shows how ineffecient they have been and argument done.

let us see if the JLP any better.

[Gamma]

that's it right there 'sass. pnp in power 18 years and jlp inherit a mess and pnp people who tacitly condoned the mess demandinding to know how the jlp going to fix it yadda yadda yadda.

mek the people do what they have to do and then judge them nuh? mi god man...not even 100 days yet.....

anyway mout mek fi talk....but deploy it judiciously nuh? and yes this includes audley (NAJ) and bruce re: chavez.

[Willi]

Karl, give it up.

The PNP had all of 18 years and they left us in this state. Not a stellar record by any measurement. Let's see if this set can do any better, as if not, dawg nyam we supper.

I am still at a loss how we sink this low...

[Lazie]

I am still at a loss how we sink this low...

Well, there were jokers like Karl and JAwge cheering on the decline ... some went as far as calling it progress.

[Karl]

I am still at a loss how we sink this low...

Karl, give it up?

Is really is so hard to understand, not earning enough to keep up with expectations and taste?

OK - I give up!

btw - Unless the JLP can turn around that "not earning enough"...dwag shall nyam wi supper!

...and, it really is not that hard to see!

[Muadib]

I don't even feel sorry for you.

I hope you suffer every second of the JLP term.

It is only fitting.

[Willi]

Karl,

Our crisis is not just economic...indeed, its not even MAINLY economic.

Japan and Germany were lower and surged back fast...we have been on a slow and steady decline for a while...most notably under PNP administartions, though JLP ones were not that great either.

People still refuse to understand that we are in deep doo-doo. Can I make it any plainer?

I love Jamaica, its a wonderful place with some wonderful people, but somehow we have managed to negate every advantage we were blessed with and it is not obvious nor non-trivial how we will extricate ourselves and rerturn to what should be our natural level.

BenJ posted an article a few days back blasting Rubberbottom. In that article, the writer lamented how our universities have not produced any targetted scientific/engineering research with commercial applicability. This is a glaring ommisiion, yet we struggle to fund them and focus on making too many lawyers/political scientiest/ misguided economists and the like. UTECH/Passley Gdns need to be assigned metrics that measure COMMERCIAL outputs...similar to NCU and their Microsoft winning team. UWI Nat. Sci needs to be geared to do the same.

Our universities are NOT creative and not serving our interests. The best grads are snapped up in farrin and that is the end of them from a Jakan perspective.

Then there is the issue of social capital, a measure of cohesion in the society. We used to have shared goals and values as a people, but look at how nuff young people dont even know who the Wailers were! In another 10 years, perhaps we will see that 10-20% of younfgsters who dont really know who Bob Marley was. Maybe, I exaggerate, but I am sure you talke my point.

[Don1]

Ja investment

[QUOTE=Willi;54965]While everybody busy playing politics, here is whatsee:

Other Caribbean countries that placed ahead of Jamaica in terms of FDIs include the British Virgin Islands with US$6.5 billion; Cayman Islands with US$2.9 billion.

BVI has popn of 25,000 and Cayman...let us be generous and say 60,000.
These are 2 microstates and they are outstripping us. A few years back, TnT used to have the highers FDI in the region, averaging over $2b with major gas infrastructure.


Those microstates/colonies are doing extremely well as offshore business centers....hosting pools of money out of reach of tax authorities in other countries....these numbers don't reflect investments in their real economy (mainly fat bank balances) so comparison with Jamaica's numbers would be skewed.

Jamaica's recent FDI performance is very respectable based on our historical trends and by comparison with some regional rivals. T&T had a massive spike in investment driven by its gas sector as the US sought near shore source of energy security.... very special case.

Might be more useful to look at Ja vs Dominican Republic which is currently in a growth phase. Our per capita FDI is actually higher than the DR as they have 3x our population.

This helps to prove the point that Jamaica's problem of underdevelopment/persistent poverty is not due primarily to money or economics but to our terrible social relationships. Fix that and and Jamaica will blossom. $2b/yr in FDI would be great but would not solve our fundamental problem.

Our condition is the fault of the corrupt politics of the PNP & JLP equally and the corrupt, backward, selfish PRIVATE SECTOR. Fix them and Jamaica will have a chance to grow.

[Don1]

Ja investment

[QUOTE=Willi;54965]While everybody busy playing politics, here is whatsee:

Other Caribbean countries that placed ahead of Jamaica in terms of FDIs include the British Virgin Islands with US$6.5 billion; Cayman Islands with US$2.9 billion.

BVI has popn of 25,000 and Cayman...let us be generous and say 60,000.
These are 2 microstates and they are outstripping us. A few years back, TnT used to have the highers FDI in the region, averaging over $2b with major gas infrastructure.


Those microstates/colonies are doing extremely well as offshore business centers....hosting pools of money out of reach of tax authorities in other countries....these numbers don't reflect investments in their real economy (mainly fat bank balances) so comparison with Jamaica's numbers would be skewed.

Jamaica's recent FDI performance is very respectable based on our historical trends and by comparison with some regional rivals. T&T had a massive spike in investment driven by its gas sector as the US sought near shore source of energy security.... very special case.

Might be more useful to look at Ja vs Dominican Republic which is currently in a growth phase. Our per capita FDI is actually higher than the DR as they have 3x our population.

This helps to prove the point that Jamaica's problem of underdevelopment/persistent poverty is not due primarily to money or economics but to our terrible social relationships. Fix that and and Jamaica will blossom. $2b/yr in FDI would be great but would not solve our fundamental problem.

Our condition is the fault of the corrupt politics of the PNP & JLP equally and the corrupt, backward, selfish PRIVATE SECTOR. Fix them and Jamaica will have a chance to grow.