New fast-track facility for exporters
Published:Sunday | February 20, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Jamaica Promotions Limited (JAMPRO) will be introducing a fast-track facility for exporters as of Monday.
The facility will provide ease of doing business with three public-sector agencies.
The first phase of the new facility was formally launched by Karl Samuda, minister of industry, investment and commerce, at the third staging of the 'Let's Talk Exports' interactive exporter forum at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston last week.
Beverley Moses, business facilitation manager at JAMPRO, told Sunday Business that the facility is a partnership with three public-sector agencies in the trade network. These bodies are the Trade Board, the Customs Department, and the Bureau of Standards.
"These three agencies are commencing partnership with us in phase one," she said. "(We) will be offering an integrated facility for potential and existing exporters to access export-related documents and to obtain relevant approvals from key agencies."
Moses further explained that the facility is intended to provide a solution for new and existing exporters who have little time to travel between agencies.
"It will provide a level of convenience and an ease in doing their transactions," she said.
Moses said service transactions would be conducted as already two of these agencies - the Customs Department and the Trade Board - offered online services. She said JAMPRO's information officers would facilitate the services.
The second phase of the service will be implemented in May when six other service agencies will be added.
"We will be looking to bring on- board other agencies such as the National Environmental and Planning Agency, the Companies Office of Jamaica, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, and the Ministry of Health," Moses said.
The facility will operate from the ground floor of JAMPRO's head office in Kingston, and will also be available at the agency's Montego Bay office.
Delaine Morgan, VP of Trade and Business Development, JAMPRO, indicated that the commencement of the first phase of operations of the fast-track facility would see exporters being able to initiate a number of applications for various export-related transactions in one location, ranging from exporter-registration applications to the processing of applications for export licences.
Morgan said by the end of June this year, JAMPRO would be facilitating a 'Full Service Day', where select agencies would have representatives stationed at JAMPRO on one assigned day of the week to address queries and to provide on-the-spot approval of documents where relevant.
Giving exporters head start
Samuda said that as the Govern-ment moves to create a more competitive environment for business, greater focus would be placed on meeting the needs of exporters.
"Our focus will be on facilitating exporters in a manner that will enable them to get a head start on being more competitive and more efficient," he said.
"The fast-track facility is just the beginning of where we want to go. We must move from here now to develop a very efficient and streamlined suite of services that inspires greater confidence in the productive sector."
Sancia Bennett Templer, presi-dent of JAMPRO, highlighted the partnership approach adopted by the public-sector entities in creating the facility, and echoed the minister's sentiments about providing the necessary support for exporters.
"This facility is all about ensuring that we provide ongoing improvement to the services that we provide to you. We look forward to working with you as we seek to improve our country and expand our exports, " she said.