PNP launches Youth Employment, Innovation and New Economy Commission
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The People’s National Party (PNP) yesterday launched a Youth Employment, Innovation and New Economy Commission, which it said is in a bid to “overhaul the Jamaican economy to become the regional economic mecca, providing real, workable options, especially for the unemployed and unattached youth”.
The commission was unveiled at a press conference at the office of the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Phillips.
It will explore and provide policy frameworks that will reinvent the Jamaican economy with the keys to unlock job potentials and technological and financial power, the PNP said in a release today.
Phillips, according to the release, said the aim of the commission is to recommend policy options that will change the structure of the Jamaican economy.
“When the People’s National Party takes office, these options will be available as we seek to change the fundamental pillars of our economy, which have remained static since Independence,” the release added.
The Opposition leader said Jamaica’s economic activity is still largely focused on the provision of traditional goods and services, but without innovative changes in the production and delivery process.
“We have not replaced the traditional sectors with any new modern sectors, and we continue to rely on the declining export of raw materials. The new economy is yet to emerge,” he charged.
Phillips highlighted a recent employment indicator, which shows that with 1,358,300 people employed in Jamaica, the largest numbers are in wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and equipment, which represents around 20 per cent. Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing represent the second largest sector at 15 per cent; construction at nine per cent and hotel and restaurant services also at nine per cent.
In 2002, only six per cent of our exports were mid-to high-tech manufacturing, and the situation has not improved, the former finance minister outlined.
The PNP said the sectors of future focus will be determined by what remain globally competitive as the world’s economy advances through technology.