International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean
Keynote Address
by
Dr the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, ON, PC, MP,
Prime Minister of Jamaica
at the
International Economic Forum for Latin America and the Caribbean
on
January 28, 2026
_____________________________________
President Mulino, thank you so much for your hospitality and warm welcome.
Executive President Sergio Díaz-Granados of CAF, thank you so much for your support of Jamaica. Thank you for the invitation.
Colleagues,
Distinguished leaders,
Partners, it is an honour to address this forum at a time when our region is not only navigating global uncertainty but confronting a deeper question of agency. Will we merely navigate the world as it changes, or will we help to shape the direction in which it moves?
Just under three months ago, Jamaica faced one of the most severe natural disasters in modern history, the third most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the world. Hurricane Melissa, a Category 5 storm, tested our institutions, our infrastructure, and our people. Yet today I stand before you with a simple but powerful message: Jamaica has endured. Jamaica is strongly recovering, and Jamaica is moving forward. This moment is best understood in the context of how fundamentally Jamaica’s economic resilience has changed over time, how our capacity to absorb shocks and rebound from them has been deliberately strengthened.
In 2008, the global financial crisis struck a heavily indebted and structurally vulnerable Jamaican economy. It took 11 years for Jamaica to return to pre-crisis output, 11 years of fiscal repair, institutional reform, and sustained efforts to rebuild credibility. Jamaica’s public debt-to-GDP ratio underwent a significant transformation between 2008 and 2019, rising from 120% in 2008, following the global crisis, to a peak of over 140% in 2013 before decreasing to roughly 90% by the end of 2019, and this marked the beginning of a major turnaround in fiscal stability. Then, just as the recovery was consolidating, the world was struck by the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by global supply chain disruptions, escalating geopolitical tensions on a scale not seen in a century, and yet Jamaica responded differently.
Our recovery was V-shaped. We returned to pre-pandemic output in just three years, and were it not for Hurricane Melissa, we would’ve hit our debt-to-GDP target of 60%; same country, same people, different governance. Not governance of reaction, not governance of panic, but governance of preparation, not only discipline in crisis but sustained discipline over time, and that is why Jamaica now absorb shocks differently and recovers faster. Because our economic management is more disciplined, because our institutions are stronger, and because we have built fiscal buffers, this foundation gives Jamaica the confidence not merely to respond to disruptions, but to emerge from it with greater resilience, more durable stability, and a clearer path to long-term growth and poverty reduction.
I agree with President Lula that the poor is not invisible. We must always keep our eyes on the poor in our societies. We must never lose sight of the poor in our society. In Jamaica, we have cut absolute poverty in half, from 16% to 8%. No doubt the hurricane will have some impact on the baseline poverty rate, but the lesson that we have learned in the last decade is that the best way to address poverty, the best way to lift people out of poverty, is through good governance and good fiscal management of the economy.
Jamaica today is like a ship that has not only reinforced its hull but redesigned its navigation systems. We’re not merely seaworthy, we are voyage-ready. We can withstand shocks, but more importantly, we can chart a longer and more ambitious course. That journey has already begun, and the world has taken notice.
In the weeks following the hurricane, all three major international rating agencies: Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch reaffirmed Jamaica’s sovereign standing with stable outlooks. Moody’s even upgraded us. This is extraordinary in the immediate aftermath of a Category 5 storm. That international credibility is now being translated into a platform for accelerated development. Through close engagement with our development partners, including the IMF, World Bank, the IDB and the Caribbean Development Bank, Jamaica has secured US$6.7 billion in development financing. This is the largest and fastest mobilisation of financing in Jamaica’s history.
The bulk of these inflows will be channelled through the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, which will serve as a centre of technical excellence for project development, a single point of national coordination and a platform for public-private partnerships. The National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority will enable Jamaica to execute resilient infrastructure projects at scale and speed. This institutional architecture rests on hard macroeconomic fundamentals.
Debt to GDP was on track to be below 60% before the hurricane, unemployment is at a historic low of 3.3%, our net international reserves now exceed US$6 billion, and we’re proud to say that for the last 10 budgets presented to the people of Jamaica, we have not exacted any new taxes. We have a freely floating currency with no foreign exchange controls, no capital controls. We are further reinforcing this strong macroeconomic framework through productivity reforms to reduce delays, cut bureaucracy, and accelerate investment. We are reinforcing it through the energy sector reforms, through low energy costs, expanding renewable energy capacity, and strengthening the resilience of our grid. And importantly, we are reinforcing it through improved public safety. Jamaica recorded a 42% reduction in homicides last year, and in January to date, we have reduced homicides by a further 54% comparing it to January last year.
Colleagues, the question before us is not whether the global system is changing; it is whether our region will change with intention or drift by default. For too long, Latin America and the Caribbean have been described primarily through a language of vulnerability, but vulnerability is not our destiny. Our region possesses what the world increasingly needs: young populations, strategic geography, extraordinary natural assets, food-producing capabilities, renewable energy potential, creative industries, and resilient democracies. We are not peripheral to the global system. We are central to its stability, sustainability, and future growth, but to project that reality, we must act deliberately.
We must articulate clearer regional positions on climate resilience, supply chain diversification, digital inclusion, and sustainable energy. We must move from fragmented national initiatives to aligned regional priorities, and we must shift from reacting to global change to anticipating it, helping shape the standards and partnerships of the next decade. Let me suggest three imperatives.
First, a regional competitiveness agenda anchored in connectivity, logistics, energy security, and digital transformation. Second, institutional readiness, credible frameworks that give global partners confidence that our ambitions can be executed with professionalism and continuity. Third, a renewed diplomatic and economic posture, deepening engagement, not only with traditional partners, but with emerging markets, global value chain leaders, and the rapidly expanding green technology ecosystem.
If our region is to rise, we must deepen our economic connections. If our economies are to scale, we must scale our ambitions. Our voice is to carry globally; we must speak not as isolated markets, but as a coherent hemisphere. The opportunity before us is not modest. It is broad, bold, and transformative. Jamaica stands ready to play its part through stronger institutions, more efficient government, and an increasingly competitive economic environment. We intend to contribute to a hemisphere that is not merely participating in global affairs but shaping them. Let us therefore commit to a shared regional vision, a hemisphere that acts with discipline, speaks with purpose and competes with confidence, a hemisphere that is resilient, dynamic, and future-ready, a hemisphere that the world recognises not for its challenges, but for its capabilities, because the next decade will not belong to those who wait for opportunity to arrive, i will belong to those who create it, and the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean standing together can shape a future worthy of our people and equal to our potential.
Finally, let me extend an invitation to the region’s investors and partners. Jamaica’s recovery has created not only resilience but momentum, and with it a train line of bankable opportunities across infrastructure, logistics, energy, manufacturing, tourism, and the digital economy. These opportunities will be showcased later during the conference, and I encourage investors to engage actively, explore partnerships, and see Jamaica not simply as a market, but as a platform for regional growth anchored by strong institutions, macroeconomic stability, and an open, predictable, and welcoming investment environment.
Friends, I thank you.