Following Mike Michalowicz article on the new breed of entrepreneurs in Jamaica I’ve decided to make a small article on doing business in Jamaica. The report is based on external resources rather my real life experiences, so if you have comments, addons or anything else, I invite you to let me know.
I will start with the Doing business in Jamaica report from the The World Bank Group. If that’s a little to complicated to read and understand, the Jamaica Gleaner made a quite interesting summary of the report. “Dragging Jamaica down in the current survey is the 51.3 per cent of taxes businesses pay on average – that’s more than 51 cents of every dollar earned – to the treasury and designated state agencies with which they interface 72 times per year; heavy shipping costs of US$1,750 per export container and the US$1,420 charge per container of imports; the two months required to register property and transaction fees that double those of other groupings; and enforcement of contracts”
With a population of 2,677,170 and GNI per capita (US$): 3,710.00, Jamaica’s most important trading partner is US. The U.S. Commercial Services states in the doing business in Jamaica page: “The US remains Jamaica’s main trading partner, accounting for almost 40 percent of total trade. On average Jamaica imports 45 percent and exports 30 percent of its goods from and to the US. Jamaica’s other major trading partners are Trinidad and Tobago, the UK, Canada, Japan, China and Venezuela. ”
On the same page they say that: “Sectors which should have good prospects are Building Products, Safety/Security Equipment, Telecommunications Equipment, Drugs and Pharmaceuticals, tourism-related activities, non-traditional agriculture, agribusiness, and Information and Communications Technology.
The following sectors have attracted the most attention by foreign investors: Agribusiness, Chemicals and Minerals, Energy, Entertainment (Music and Film), Information and Communications Technology, Infrastructure, Mining, and Tourism. ”
If you are interesting about more down to Earth tips on business in Jamaica, I found Jazz Johnson article a good reference. I’m quoting what I found most interesting:”The atmosphere in Corporate Jamaica is ultra conservative as compared to corporate America… Jamaicans within the corporate environment have a great work ethic and will get right down to business when it’s time to work. The relationship of man to woman within the corporate environment is strictly business and most companies prefer that employees address each other by their last names with of course the suitable acronym in front. E.g. Mr. James, Mrs. Barnett, Ms. Smith etc.”
As with everything else Jamaicans also have very strong political views. Do let the Jamaican take the lead when it comes to local politics. Ask informed questions but never get into a political argument with a business associate, it could be a deal breaker.
Goliath – Business Knowledge on demand, hosts an interesting study about several aspects of the business environment:
- Market Challenges
- Establishing an Office
- Franchising
- Direct Marketing
- Joint Ventures/Licensing
- Selling to the Government
- Electronic Commerce
and others bits and pieces of information.
Doingbusiness.org also has a 37 pages PDF that showcases the economies in the Caribbean States which could serve as term of comparison for better understanding.
On a lighter note, David Mullings says in a comment:
“Jamaica has produced things that are readily recognizable anywhere in the World:
- Bob Marley
- Reggae music
- The fastest sprinters
- Jerk seasoning”
And of course, to see how an US entrepreneur sees things in Jamaica, you get Mike Michalowicz’s article on the new breed of entrepreneurs in Jamaica
I like the references on Bob Marley, Usain Bolt and Reggae Music in your post. I often use Reggae as examples in some of my blogs also.
Respect