ROSE HALL, St James — Impressed by support provided to ensure that he was able to ink a $1.2-billion deal, an executive from a leading multinational in the business process management sector has lauded Jamaica for the ease of doing business in the country.

According to Anand Biradar, head of global delivery for the Americas at Sagility, it is a lot easier to work with Jamaica than other countries.

“Going by the books, it would take probably four, five months to complete all the paperwork and get through the process and we had eight weeks to close the deal,” noted Biradar, who said the experience was shocking because it went so well. He is also president of the Global Services Association of Jamaica.

“It took me minutes [Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Aubyn] Hill, and Bobby Honeyghan who works for the minister and Prime Minister of Jamaica [Andrew Holness] to sign the document on the eve of Christmas, which was a weekend. That won’t happen in any [other] country. That is the amount of commitment the Government brings in supporting the private sector,” Biradar said to a round of applause from those in attendance at the Outsource2LAC (O2LAC) Global Digital Services Summit – Jamaica 2023.

Basking in the praise, Hill later told journalists this was the level of service he and his team strives to provide to potential investors. He said all 19 agencies within his ministry are focused on the job and he urges everyone with whom they interact to hold them accountable for their efficiency.

Both men’s comments are in stark contrast to the experiences of many other individuals and businesses — both local and foreign—who often complain that red tape is a major problem in Jamaica. It is an issue that Holness himself has spoken of in the past.

Also speaking during the conference on Wednesday, president of Jamaica Promotions Corporation (Jampro) Shullette Cox pointed to gains made in putting policies in place to speed up important projects.

“Last year, the first year the minister was in, we actually pushed through the national investment policy. It was tabled in December. This is a tenet of this policy that the Government is committed to expediting priority projects that will have an impact on the economy,” she explained.

Now in its ninth staging, O2LAC is the brainchild of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Integration and Trade Sector. This year’s staging was organised by the Ministry of Industry, Investment & Commerce, through Jampro, with strong support from ConnectAmericas.

Held on Wednesday and Thursday, the summit provided a platform for participants to exchange views on the latest trends within the global services sector and identify business opportunities for SMEs within Latin America and the Caribbean.

This is the first time O2LAC is being held in an English-speaking country within Latin America.