Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Caribbean
CaribbeanWorld

Jamaica Climbs Global Competitiveness Rankings

Posted byBy Megan Reed | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The minister of industry, investment and commerce, Anthony Hylton, has welcomed the news of Jamaica’s upward movement of eight places in the Global Competitiveness Rankings. Hylton cited the work of the National Competitiveness Council, which he chairs, as being central to the focused efforts of the ministry and the government to reverse Jamaica’s slide in one of the most important indices of global business competitiveness produced by the World Economic Forum.

“Despite tough economic conditions, our significant move up the Global Competitiveness Rankings points to the progress we are making, both in the public and private sectors, to improve the environment for business in Jamaica,” said Hylton.

Jamaica’s ranking in the Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 shows an improved business environment moving from 94 last year, up to 86 out of the 144 countries surveyed for the level of productivity in their institutions and policies for business.

Jamaica’s best performance was in the area of financial market development, attaining a rank of 48 out of 144 countries, a factor that speaks to the availability of financial services and ease of access to loans as well as other financial-related variables that influence business.

Hylton pointed this out as one of areas of focus for the National Competitiveness Council in the Business Environment Reform Agenda (BERA), which he described as essential to Jamaica’s drive to create a logistics-centered economy.

“In this area of financial market development, validation by the global business community is a significant achievement for the country, which continues to put us significantly ahead of our key regional counterparts, chief of which are the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago,” noted Hylton.

The Global Competiveness Report also highlighted other significant areas of improvement for Jamaica such as in innovation, where the country moved up the rankings from 83 to 75; mobile broadband subscription, moving from 114 to 69 and in the macro-economic segment of government budget balance, where Jamaica achieved a meteoric jump from 96 to 21.

 

Read more at caribbeannewsnow.com

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top