President of the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), Shullette Cox (second right), shares a photo opportunity with (from left) Interim Vice President, Export Division, JAMPRO, Shane Angus; Manager, Exporter Facilitation, JAMPRO, Delaine Morgan; and Manager at EXIM Bank of Jamaica, Errol Barnaby. Occasion was the recent Exporter Information Session at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston.
In a move that unerringly targets the country’s export-ready firms, seeking to support them in their quest for a greater share of export markets, the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) is seeking to attract greater attention to its Enterprise Developmental Export Growth (EXPORT MAX) programme, which is being redesigned to provide more targeted assistance to the country’s exporters. A report in the January 24th issue of the Jamaica Gleaner quotes JAMPRO’s President Shullette Cox as saying at a recent Exporter Information in Kingston, the country’s capital, that what is in effect a “revamping process” will result in “focused capacity-building, advocacy and market penetration support” for local businesses.
Export Max, the Gleaner report quotes the JMPRO’s President as saying, promises to deliver customized services that first identify the specific needs of a company and then designs and implements tailored initiatives. “It is through this comprehensive programme that you will be able to receive required assistance with capacity improvements to meet the demands of the export market,” she noted. Initiatives like the recent undertaking by JAMPRO have, over time, served to cause business analysts to see the state-run organization as the region’s standout export promotion agency. Setting aside the commitment that JAMPRO has given to provide training that will properly position companies to enter the export market, the institution will “facilitate market penetration activities that will put them in front of potential overseas buyers through activities such as trade shows, ministerial export missions or business-to-business matchmaking meetings.” JAMPRO’s undertaking, however, does not stop there. According to The Gleaner report, the entity’s recently established Exporter Facilitation Team will “collaborate with exporters to build relationships within the export community, identify challenges and, where possible, eliminate obstacles.”
Ironically, JAMPRO’s undertakings go to the heart of what Guyanese manufacturers, particularly those in the Agro Processing sector have lacked over the years. Those local Agro Processors who have realized a fair measure of success on the regional and international markets have done so, overwhelmingly, through trial and error and on account of ‘connections’ that they have established through their own efforts.
While it had been widely believed that the Guyana Marketing Corporation (GMC) had been established to play that role, questions have arisen as to, first, whether it is suitably resourced to undertake elaborate overseas marketing support for what is a growing local Agro Processing sector and whether, as well, it can effectively play that role while it remains under the strict control of the bureaucracy that regulates a government Ministry, namely, the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Jamaica Gleaner report on the JAMPRO initiative states that the team has already “engaged with more than 240 inactive exporters to determine the key issues that have contributed to their dormancy.” A recent export information session executed by JAMPRO in collaboration with the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica was designed to “provide practical, timely and useful information on how exporters can minimize the risk of not being paid by overseas buyers and provide a guide on product costing and pricing for export markets,” the Gleaner report said.
