Govt in car assembly plant talks, says Hylton BY STEVEN JACKSON Business reporter jacksons@jamaicaobserver Wednesday, November 19, 2014 A car maker is in talks with the Government to set up an assembly plant within the conceptualised logistics hub, Industry Minister Anthony Hylton has said. Hylton declined to name the company, but suggested that it would use the island to quickly fulfil orders to major markets. If I would tell this audience that Jamaica could be a player in the automotive industry you would laugh, but its true, Hylton said in an address to the Global Value Chain Management for Competitiveness forum at the University of West Indies, Mona on Monday. We have discussions talking place now with a major auto supplier wanting to position the assembly of motor vehicles. Hylton was one of eight experts to address the forum hosted by the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) and UWI Business Centre under the Business Dialogue Series of talks. Other speakers included junior technology minister Julian Robinson; Valerie Veira, CEO at JBDC; Douglas Lindo, managing director of Bellindo; Deiwght Peters, CEO Saint International; Dr Damo Graham, head of LRM supply chain at Red Stripe; James Moss-Solomon, executive in residence at Mona School of Business; and Janine Taylor, manager at Things Jamaican. Under the concept announced by Hylton, the island would receive cars in segments from Asia, which would be stored and assembled on a needs basis. The island would then provide value in the supply chain by fitting the cars for export. Why would they want to do that? he asked. First, they are not going to produce the metals here because the energy costs dont allow for that. But they can assemble and add value in very important ways here. Hylton added that a local plant would allow the market to accommodate quick trends that are lost in lengthy transits of finished cars from Asia. Its the last mile to market... It really is the ideal location for logistics. If you have the [assembly plant] in Jamaica and if the market is buying white cars or blue cars, you simply spray the cars here or add accessories here, he said. The logistics hub has thus far defined Hyltons tenure in office. The Government continues to seek investors and companies to construct and rent space in the conceptualised hub. The hub is a platform, and logistics is an activity within it, Hylton said in his extemporaneous address to mostly small-scale entrepreneurs at the forum. [The logistics hub] represents our last real chance. We were a maritime state before and we lost sight of that and got into everything else. Now the opportunity with the Panama Canal expansion has refocused our minds on the reality that our geo-strategic location is superior to anyone in the region. Earlier this year, Jamaicas global logistics ranking improved to 70 out of 160, which allowed it to crack below 100 for the first time. Germany led the world, while Caribbean countries The Bahamas at 66 and the Dominican Republic at 69 surpassed Jamaica in the 2014 study entitled Connecting to Compete 2014 -- Trade Logistics in the Global Economy published by the World Bank. Nations were ranked using a Logistic Performance Index, which measures the time, cost and reliability to transport goods using air, sea and rail transport. The global investor community remains very, very interested in what we are doing in Jamaica and what is happening with the logistics hub and the improvement in the Doing Business environment, Hylton said.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:31:06 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015