Plan to reduce cost of doing business in Jamaica

Jamaica's Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw

KINGSTON, Jamaica, April 10, 2008 – The Bruce Golding administration is moving to reduce the cost of doing business in Jamaica.

The government has received the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) assistance in reaching that goal.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw and the President of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno have signed a US$30 million for a Competitiveness Enhancement Programme for the Caribbean island as part of a proposed US$90 million loan to enhance competitiveness in Jamaica in the 2008/2009fiscal year.

"The program seeks to enhance competitiveness in Jamaica by promoting specific reforms to reduce the cost of doing business and establishing a sustainable frame-work for public private dialogue, thereby improving efficiency and the ability of businesses to compete in an increasingly global marketplace," the IDB said in a release.

The projected will be executed by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).

Mr. Shaw said he was satisfied that his deliberate policy of re-engaging with the IDB on a more intensive basis was already bearing fruit.

A release from the Jamaica government indicated that during the course of this fiscal year, two additional loan agreements with the IDB of US$30 million each, based on its commitment to effect reforms to transform education and improve fiscal management, are expected to be signed.

This will represent a total of US$150 million in policy-based loans from the IDB.