Growth & Jobs | A big and bold JSEZA driving Jamaican logistics

Jamaica's economy is to receive a radical restructuring of its industrial base when two mega-industrial parks and special economic zones (SEZs) in St Elizabeth and St Catherine are completed.

The official launch of the 6,000-acre Jamaica Gansu Industrial Park (JGIP) in Nain, St Elizabeth, will be in September and ground is to be broken in December. It is estimated that 80,000 jobs will become available with the JGIP project.

More than 25,000 jobs will come with the planned Caymanas Special Economic Zone (CSEZ), a 1,500-acre development in St Catherine, near the port of Kingston.

These developments come as the country advances its world-class logistics infrastructure and positions itself to be known as a robust and efficient global logistics hub.

Making Ja a hub

The JGIP and CSEZ are part of the network of logistics hub activities in designated geographical areas across the country. The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA), which regulates and supervises the SEZs, wants to change the perception of the industrial hub being a single location and to reinforce the fact that it is the infrastructure, policies, labour force, among other things, that contribute to making Jamaica a hub.

"We have policies relating to how we establish businesses, how we train our people, how we prepare them to work; (all of this) is part of preparing Jamaica as that business destination that connects Jamaica to the world," said Kelli-Dawn Hamilton, director of investor relations at the JSEZA.

She added that Jamaica's information technology infrastructure, ensuring its connectivity to the world, is also part of positioning the island as a hub.

"The JGIP investors have already started the upgrade for the bauxite plant," said Dr Eric Deans, CEO of the JSEZA, in relation to the Alpart plant at Nain, which is owned and operated by the Chinese firm Jiuquan Iron and Steel Company and is a component of the hub.

"They are going to be putting in a new power plant to accommodate the industrial park. All of the feasibility studies have been completed so that construction is expected to begin in January," added Deans.

Each zone, Deans said, focuses on different industrial clusters. "JGIP focuses on heavy industrial metal fabrication and limestone industries, while Caymanas will focus mainly on light industry, assembly and services."

With its range of activities and projects, JSEZA is confident that it will play a significant role in transforming Jamaica's economy and has set a time line.

"Take a picture of the country as you see it today, in five years you won't recognise it," declared Deans.

Alpart is being upgraded to move alumina production from 1.6 million tonnes to 5 million tonnes per annum, however, the projection for the industrial park moves beyond producing the primary material of alumina.

The intention is to develop downstream the metal fabrication operation of JGIP, to use aluminium to produce end products such as window frames, roofing materials, motor vehicle parts and solar panel frames, all of which attract higher prices than the primary commodities.

"We have to diversify the economy to make it more complex, and the aim of the Logistics Hub initiative and the special economic zone regime is to attract global industries - a more diverse range of industries," said Deans.

For more on the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority see: http://www.jseza.com/