It was a tricky question for the Minister of Finance Dr Nigel Clarke to answer but he parried very well.

He was the special guest speaker at the first Mayberry Investor Forum for the year, held at the AC Marriott Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday evening.

Chairman of Mayberry Investments, Christopher Berry asked Minister Dr Clarke, “All these people sitting here are investors. What sectors should they be putting their capital behind right now?

Dr Clarke took a minute before giving Berry a measured answer. He could get in hot water here as a minister of finance going on record telling Jamaicans to invest in certain sectors at the exclusion of others.

Diplomacy and tact would have to come into play.

“My job is to pursue policies that create an environment that is conducive to investment. Your job is to find those sectors. I’m not into picking sectors.

“You ask me what sectors can investors and the country benefit from. You think American entrepreneurs sit around a table with Trump,Biden, Clinton and Bush and ask what sectors should we invest in? No, they start Google, and Amazon and took advantage of the environment. We are creating the most favourable environment for investment that has existed in Jamaica for a very long time. Every year for the past few years more companies have been formed, more so than ever before. As at the last time I checked, I think it was for 2022, 5,400 companies were registered, 11 per cent higher than the year before.”

The Minister of Finance was more James Baker here than Donald Rumsfeld. With the high-interest rate regime persisting and Jamaican equities in the doldrums, investors are looking for somewhere to place their money in the expectation of handsome returns.

Dr Clarke further elucidated: “The environment for investment is fertile and our job is to do our best to maintain that fertility. In terms of projects that the Government is working on which may lead to investment opportunities, I can speak about that, but business opportunities ought not to be limited to the Government.

“We are seeing a certain dynamism among young people, many of whom are starting companies and taking up innovation grants. Some of the things the Government is doing to create investment is to announce companies that it will be taking public and we are committed to that. We have also announced a number of infrastructure assets. We are seeking to make a major public investment in a North Coast road- not a highway as such- one that goes between Ocho Rios and Montego Bay. It is likely to be the largest single infrastructure investment in Jamaica. It is an investment we hope to partner with the private sector on. The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) has announced a bid for lands in Caymanas. People have put in expressions of interest in development. These could be sites for industrial complexes. We have big housing investment opportunities in Bernard Lodge. There are also PPP opportunities in the water and health sectors.

“Through divestments, PPP facilities and government operating assets, these will create tremendous investment opportunities for investors.”