Above: US Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater (Photo: ACC Mexico)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaica’s exporters can take fuller advantage of “extensive opportunity” available under the US-backed Caribbean Basin Initiative, according to US Ambassador to Jamaica Pamela Bridgewater.

The US envoy was speaking to the Jamaica Exporters Association’s general meeting in St Andrew at the end of last week.

“This access has the potential to generate foreign exchange earnings, create jobs [and] contribute to national development,” she said.

Some stakeholders in Jamaica had not taken the necessary paperwork steps through the Trade Board, she said, something that would enable duty-free shipment of their products into the US.

“You have the power to change that, and I am counting on you to partner with us to expand Jamaica’s exports under CBI,” she said.

“We all know that this has to take place,” she told the JEA. “We have to have an economic renaissance in Jamaica — and we agree that this is paramount and everyone of you and every Jamaican must find a way to make this a reality.”

The CBI offers particular advantages to food producers to access the “single-largest market” in the Western Hemisphere on a preferential basis, she said.

“The country is ready for your leadership, as exporters — are you ready to lead?” she asked. “Brand Jamaica is on a mission and the USA wants Jamaica to succeed. Simply put, there are unexplored opportunities that need to be tapped, so let’s tap them together.”