‘We will help’
BY KIMONE THOMPSON
Associate editor — features
thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com
PANAMA, a major player in the international logistics business, has endorsed Jamaica’s intention to enter the field and expressed a willingness to assist the country in its plans to become established.
Canada, meanwhile, though a smaller player, offered Jamaica advice on the
way forward.
Director of marketing at Colon Multimodal Logistics Centre of the Americas in Panama, Sonia Anton, and director of policy and coordinator of Atlantic Gateway Security and Trade Corridor in Halifax, Canada, Marianne Etter made the expressions at the second of the two-day Logistics Hub Symposium at the
Jamaica Conference Centre, Wednesday.
Anton spoke of how Colon Free Zone grew from an area of 30 hectares and 10 companies in 1948 to the current 1,000 hectares and 65,000 employees, most
of whom she said
were Jamaicans.
“It started as a dream,” she said, adding that the principals had the attitude and perseverance to make it
a reality.
“I say to my colleagues in Jamaica: Go for the dream. We will help; we will support you,” she said to loud applause from the group of mostly private sector interests inside the Kenneth Rattray room at the JCC.
Anton added that the Panamanian government, headed by President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal, has been spending millions putting in multi modes of transport infrastructure to ready the country for the expected increase in business once the widening of the Panama Canal is complete.
“Our president has spent a lot of money on modernisation,” she said, adding that he has spent $80 million on a new international airport for cargo, $100 million on a six-lane highway leading to and from the free zone and several thousands more expanding the country’s four ports — two on either side of the Central American isthmus.
Colon Free Zone is the largest in the Americas and the second largest in the world, with over 1,700 merchants and more than 250,000 visitors each year. It contributes 7.5 per cent of Panama’s GDP and, according to Anton, is “one of the strongest pillars of the (country’s) economy”.
Panama itself has been a transshipment hub for the greater part of the 20th century, a position facilitated by the tolled Panama Canal which is currently being expanded to facilitate even more trade between the countries of the east and
the west.
Panama has the fastest growing economy in Central America, with the largest per capita consumer.
For her part, Etter said the success of the local hub project would be critically dependent on the ability of the varied stakeholders to be “flexible and adaptable”. Of equal importance as well, she said, was building relationships with stakeholders as well as competitors.
By way of advice, she listed three specific things which she said has worked for Halifax in the development and maintenance of its logistics business, and which could work for Jamaica as well.
“These are not best practices, but they worked for us. Hopefully they can work for you too,” she said.
First on the list was
ongoing communication with stakeholders and partners. “I can’t stress that enough,”
she said.
Next was the warning not
to allow Government bureaucracy to distract from the goals, and thirdly, she
said it was important to
get commitments from international shipping lines to service the area.
“That is crucial for the success of any project like this,” Etter said.
In preparation for the widening of the Panama Canal, Etter said Halifax was already ahead of the game insofar as the condition of its harbour.
“Halifax is already Post-Panamax ready. It already has the capacity to accept the largest vessels. It is an extremely deep harbour and doesn’t require dredging,” she told the symposium.
The logistics symposium was convened by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce in tandem with the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce and JAMPRO to sensitise people about the plans and the business opportunities the hub is expected to bring.