May 2017

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) has welcomed the removal of the ban on storage of imported motor vehicles in a free zone or Special Economic Zone (SEZ) without an import licence from the Trade Board.The JSEZA said the removal, which was authorised by the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Karl Samuda on May 9, will boost business prospects for the automotive sector. “Before this approval cars destined for regional and/or the domestic market were barred from free zones if the requisite licence was not obtained prior to entry into the country”, the JSEZA noted. The organisation said it has been pushing to identify investment and value adding opportunities in this sector as the global automotive industry is one of the world’s largest manufacturing sectors, and worldwide trade of final products and components accounted for roughly US$1.4 trillion in exports in 2014. Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/JSEZA_welcomes_lifting_of_ban_on_storage_of_imported_vehicles_in_free_zones?profile=1373

Some 40 participants from the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector got an insight into the fundamentals of effective workplace mentoring last Saturday when they participated in the first in a series of one-day seminars put on by the Caribbean Maritime Institute’s (CMI) School of Advanced Skills at the Montego Bay Free Zone (MBFZ). The sessions, which enjoyed the supported by the Port Management Association of the Caribbean, comes at a time when the demand for strengthening the available talent pool has increased. “As an association, we are committed to improving the competencies of employees in areas required by the BPO industry to increase their employability and ability to advance within the organisation,” said Dr Guna Muppuri, president of the Business Process Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ). “In the past, we have engaged and are currently working with several training institutions to create the pool of qualified manpower to support the growth of the BPO/contact centre industry.” “Hence, this initiative with the Caribbean Maritime Institute is timely and critical to our efforts in enhancing and building on the basic skills of persons already employed in the industry,” added Muppuri. Read more: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170502/bpo-sector-seeking-build-capacity-mobay