Above: Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller met this weekend with more than 200 members of the business community in Philadelphia at a ceremony given in her honour.

Simpson Miller said she was determined to attract more overseas investment to Jamaica, telling the private sector leaders that everything would be done to remove the red tape so that Jamaica could benefit from foreign investments.

“The investments that many of you here have started in Jamaica might be incomplete because of the difficulties you have experienced in doing business in the country,” she said. “As Prime Minister, I’m here to let you know that I will do everything in my power to ensure that your investment desires will materialize.”

Simpson Miller was presented with the Liberty Bell award by Stanley Straughter, chairman of Mayor Michael Nutter’s Commission on African and Caribbean Immigration Affairs.

The visit was part of a five-day trip to Philadelphia and New York, the latter of which was the scene of a gala honouring Simpson Miller and the 100 Most Influential People named by Time Magazine.