Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (seen right in the photo), and Chairman of the World Free Zones Organization (WFZO), H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al Zarooni, discuss logistics for the Caribbean’s first World Free Zones Organization Annual International Conference and Exhibition (AICE), which will be hosted by Jamaica from June 13-17, 2022, at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
Minister Bartlett and Director of Tourism, Donovan White, met with the WFZO Chairman and other key conference planners in Dubai recently to discuss conference activities, legacy projects, resilience, and sustainability as well as institutional capacity building support for Jamaica and the Caribbean.
The World Free Zones Conference will be attended by over 1,500 participants, including world leaders, CEOs, and investors worldwide.
The meeting was held on behalf of Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill and the Jamaica organizing committee headed by the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA).
The Jamaica Ministry of Tourism and its agencies are on a mission to enhance and transform Jamaica’s tourism product, while ensuring that the benefits which flow from the tourism sector are increased for all Jamaicans. To this end it has implemented policies and strategies that will provide further momentum for tourism as the engine of growth for the Jamaican economy. The Ministry remains committed to ensuring that the tourism sector makes the fullest contribution possible to Jamaica’s economic development given its tremendous earning potential.
At the Ministry, they are leading the charge to strengthen the linkages between tourism and other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and entertainment, and in so doing encourage every Jamaican to play their part in improving the country’s tourism product, sustaining investment, and modernizing and diversifying the sector to foster growth and job creation for fellow Jamaicans. The Ministry sees this as critical to Jamaica’s survival and success and has undertaken this process through an inclusive approach, which is driven by the Resort Boards, through wide-scale consultation.
Recognizing that a collaborative effort and a committed partnership between the public and private sectors will be needed to achieve set targets, central to the Ministry’s plans is maintaining and nurturing its relationship with all key stakeholders. In so doing, it is believed that with the Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development as a guide and the National Development Plan – Vision 2030 as a benchmark – the Ministry’s goals are achievable for the benefit of all Jamaicans.
