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Friday, December 21, 2007
Peter Bunting, former banker and former chairman of Dehring Bunting and Golding and now Member of Parliament for Central Manchester, has committed to giving free investment advice to persons setting up businesses in his constituency.
Peter Bunting
"As a former chairman of Jamaica Trade and Invest, I am in a position to give direction to investors who want to set up in Central Manchester. So I will say right now that I will give free advice - as long as it relates to business in my constituency." Bunting made these comments in an exclusive interview at his Half-Way-Tree offices last week Friday.
Bunting isn't just banking on his appeal as a statesman. His goal is to leverage the reputation and infrastructure of Manchester, especially the main town of Mandeville, turning it into a high-tech town backed by a strong education system.
"Manchester has the best education facilities in Jamaica. There is Northern Caribbean University, the Heart Trust facilities, Churches Teacher's College and several brand name high schools such as Manchester High School."
Other assets include the Mandeville Hospital and numerous clinics. "My objective is to turn the Mandeville Hospital from a Type B facility into a Type A."
Bunting then says, "In addition to the health and educational infrastructure of Manchester, there is the salubrious environment. The parish is cool, temperate and has one of the lowest crime rates in Jamaica."
Once the second leg of the islandwide road network - Highway 2000 - links the communities of Sandy Bay to Williamsfield, it will be a 45-minute drive from Mandeville to Kingston.
What Bunting has in mind is creating call centres similar to what is in the Montego Bay freezones. "Flow is currently laying fibre optic cables in Manchester. Plus, the Jamaica Labour Party administration has promised each Member of Parliament J$150 million to run their constituency." Combining all the ingredients, Bunting explains, "with that money in hand, I want to help facilitate the development of a high-end call centre in Mandeville. The funds that we should get from the government will be used to underwrite investors who get on board."
When asked why Bunting is so keen on call centres, he replied, "Central Manchester has quality universities and strong high school networks. That means there is a pool of well-educated young people. This is a key ingredient to make a call centre work."
Manchester is also home to a large contingent of returning residents. Bunting is also calling on this community as well as the wider Diaspora to set up businesses in Jamaica, but especially Central Manchester.
"I am not talking about passive investments. For Jamaicans who own businesses abroad, I am saying why not set up a branch of your business here? You could outsource your accounting functions or set up a customer care call centre here. There are many ways that you can add value to and receive value from Jamaica."
And Bunting dismisses those who say that starting a business in Jamaica is difficult. "Objectively, it is really not hard to start a business here. Jamaica ranks 20 out of 100 countries in ease of starting a business. In many ways Jamaica has changed positively. With the expanding Flow fibre optic cables, we have the capacity to house companies that move a lot of data."
Bunting says that Jamaicans harshest critics tend to measure the country against the United States, the world's benchmark. "A lot of people do not realise that we are doing pretty well against many parts of the world. I helped a family member settle in England a few years ago. I was so surprised how long it took to get a place for rent, buy furniture and open a bank account. The furniture took three weeks to come and phone and cable was an even longer wait.
Here in Jamacia, people have a fit if Courts does not deliver the furniture in two days. Plus our cell-phone network is excellent and relatively affordable."
Bunting says that people underrate Jamaica too often. "When we were negotiating with the Canadians for the purchase of Dehring, Bunting & Golding, they were surprised to find that in every area they were met with professionals of equal calibre. From commercial law, accounting, finance and general entreprenuership, we didn't give up anything to them."
Peter Bunting, former banker and former chairman of Dehring Bunting and Golding and now Member of Parliament for Central Manchester, has committed to giving free investment advice to persons setting up businesses in his constituency.
Peter Bunting
"As a former chairman of Jamaica Trade and Invest, I am in a position to give direction to investors who want to set up in Central Manchester. So I will say right now that I will give free advice - as long as it relates to business in my constituency." Bunting made these comments in an exclusive interview at his Half-Way-Tree offices last week Friday.
Bunting isn't just banking on his appeal as a statesman. His goal is to leverage the reputation and infrastructure of Manchester, especially the main town of Mandeville, turning it into a high-tech town backed by a strong education system.
"Manchester has the best education facilities in Jamaica. There is Northern Caribbean University, the Heart Trust facilities, Churches Teacher's College and several brand name high schools such as Manchester High School."
Other assets include the Mandeville Hospital and numerous clinics. "My objective is to turn the Mandeville Hospital from a Type B facility into a Type A."
Bunting then says, "In addition to the health and educational infrastructure of Manchester, there is the salubrious environment. The parish is cool, temperate and has one of the lowest crime rates in Jamaica."
Once the second leg of the islandwide road network - Highway 2000 - links the communities of Sandy Bay to Williamsfield, it will be a 45-minute drive from Mandeville to Kingston.
What Bunting has in mind is creating call centres similar to what is in the Montego Bay freezones. "Flow is currently laying fibre optic cables in Manchester. Plus, the Jamaica Labour Party administration has promised each Member of Parliament J$150 million to run their constituency." Combining all the ingredients, Bunting explains, "with that money in hand, I want to help facilitate the development of a high-end call centre in Mandeville. The funds that we should get from the government will be used to underwrite investors who get on board."
When asked why Bunting is so keen on call centres, he replied, "Central Manchester has quality universities and strong high school networks. That means there is a pool of well-educated young people. This is a key ingredient to make a call centre work."
Manchester is also home to a large contingent of returning residents. Bunting is also calling on this community as well as the wider Diaspora to set up businesses in Jamaica, but especially Central Manchester.
"I am not talking about passive investments. For Jamaicans who own businesses abroad, I am saying why not set up a branch of your business here? You could outsource your accounting functions or set up a customer care call centre here. There are many ways that you can add value to and receive value from Jamaica."
And Bunting dismisses those who say that starting a business in Jamaica is difficult. "Objectively, it is really not hard to start a business here. Jamaica ranks 20 out of 100 countries in ease of starting a business. In many ways Jamaica has changed positively. With the expanding Flow fibre optic cables, we have the capacity to house companies that move a lot of data."
Bunting says that Jamaicans harshest critics tend to measure the country against the United States, the world's benchmark. "A lot of people do not realise that we are doing pretty well against many parts of the world. I helped a family member settle in England a few years ago. I was so surprised how long it took to get a place for rent, buy furniture and open a bank account. The furniture took three weeks to come and phone and cable was an even longer wait.
Here in Jamacia, people have a fit if Courts does not deliver the furniture in two days. Plus our cell-phone network is excellent and relatively affordable."
Bunting says that people underrate Jamaica too often. "When we were negotiating with the Canadians for the purchase of Dehring, Bunting & Golding, they were surprised to find that in every area they were met with professionals of equal calibre. From commercial law, accounting, finance and general entreprenuership, we didn't give up anything to them."
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