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Jamaica needs to increase productivity

Published:Thursday | April 14, 2011 | 12:00 AM
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Reginald Budhan (left), permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce tours the booths with Harold Davis (centre), executive director of JBDC and Paula Marcelle-Irish, manager of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), at the JBDC Incubator and Resource Centre open house, 'Unleashing Entrepreneurship in the Food Industry', held at the JBDC office in Kingston on Friday, April 8. - Rudolph Brown/Photographer
Natalia Fraser, assistant sales and distribution manager (left) and Keisha Thomas, sales representative of Organic Vision Company, shed some light on the company's three new products Sorrel Juice Cocktail, Sorrel Water and Sorrel Roots Wine.
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On Friday, April 8, the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) held an open house at their Incubator and Resource Centre, titled 'Unleashing Entrepreneurship in the Food Industry'.

Main speaker, permanent secretary, Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce Reginald Budhan, brought to the fore the issue of efficient production in Jamaica. He made reference to Trinidad and Tobago as a production-driven country with a statement that the productivity of one Trinidadian is equal to that of six Jamaicans. This, he said, is not an indictment on the physical ability of the Jamaican labourer.

"The productivity of Jamaican labour is low because we do not utilize technology," said Budhan, "which is not the case in Trinidad."

Other presentations included in the open house were, 'Unleashing Entrepreneurship in the Food Sector' by Valerie Veira, CEO of JBDC, 'Building Competitive Advantage through Intellectual Property Protection' by Sara-Ruth Allen of the Jamaica Intellectual Property Office, 'Opportunities in the Agro-processing Industry: Tapping into the Export Market', by Dr André Gordon, managing director of Technology Solutions Limited, and 'Labelling and Packaging' by Rolando Parkes, scientific officer, Science and Technology Division, Bureau of Standards Jamaica.

Among the booths with items on display were Things Jamaican, which had, among other things, the Otaheiti Apple Raisins product by Mango Valley Pride in St Mary. Organic Vision Company Limited from St Catherine also displayed their Sorrel Juice Cocktail, Sorrel Roots Wine and Sorrel Water.