10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference
Keynote Address
By
The Most Honourable Andrew Holness ON, PC, MP
Prime Minister of Jamaica
At the
10th Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference
On
June 18, 2024
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First, allow me to adjust the mic to the appropriate height. You will agree with me that the mastery of the ceremony has been excellent so far. Dervon is one of our premier hosts and he does an excellent job.
Not many people know that the Leader of the Opposition and myself share a birth month which is coming next month but maybe that’s all we share. Marky? No, that’s how we do it. And that’s how we should do it.
A sheer force of nature in foreign affairs, that’s just how I have to describe my Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith.
And the Honourable Alando Terrelonge. Just as an aside, Jamaica has two languages, our Patois and English, but as the world expands and we realize our place in the world, we really should have other languages, which more of our population would be articulate in. It’s very important, the more that I travel, the more I engage in international affairs, you see it is an indispensable asset to be able to speak and understand other languages and so this is something that I intend to pursue. I’ve said it, put it on the agenda, but we’ve just not been able to actualize it, but it is of critical importance for our competitive advantage so I’m always very proud when I send Minister Terreonge overseas, and he’s able to quickly switch between his home patois, English and I know he speaks Spanish very well. I didn’t realize he did a little bit of French and I heard a little bit of German. Very good. Very talented.
Let me acknowledge the excellent staff at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And they have done an amazing job, I must say.
Our friends in the Diplomatic Corps who are here; welcome, good to have you.
Courtney our ever-faithful support, thank you so much and the VM Group.
Let me also thank our other legacy partners, Mrs Grace Burnett who is here representing Grace Kennedy and Ms Claudine Allen, General Manager of the JN Foundation.
Now, the cameras are all pointed this way and for those who are listening in radio land, you would not be able to taste the atmosphere that is here. I’m hoping that it is conveyed in my voice through the airwaves but let me use some words.
First of all, the audience looks amazing, you’re beautiful and the place pack. Or put it so you can understand it, it ram. I saw the staff bringing out more chairs and there are people standing around the hall. It is a good look for the Jamaican diaspora. Thank you so much for coming out and being here.
I recently returned from a trip in Washington so on my way back through Atlanta, the flight was full, and I was wondering why, what is going on. And then I remembered the diaspora conference. And in fact, as people went through the aisle, they were greeting me and slipping me a few cards and saying, “Prime Minister, I want to talk to you. I have some ideas.” It was really good. I was really very impressed. Thank you so much. Thank you for choosing Jamaica. I don’t take it for granted that you would pay your way, put other things off, make plans to come to this conference. It does mean a lot to your government.
‘Nowhere no better than yard’ and I truly believe that. And I’m absolutely delighted that you also believe that, so I want to extend a warm Jamaican welcome to members of the diaspora from across the globe from Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada. Your presence here is a clear testament to the decision to broaden the scope of diaspora engagement to non-traditional areas. It also speaks volumes about your unwavering loyalty and commitment to our beloved Jamaica. Your conference theme, United for Jamaica’s Transformation Fostering Peace, Productivity, and Youth Empowerment, perfectly captures the spirit and ambition of our journey.
Recently, I had occasion to speak with a group of young Jamaicans about what it means to be Jamaican because for many of our young people, there is a growing sense of frustration. Many of them do not understand why it is that Jamaica wants to become a republic, what is the utilitarian benefit of that. They do not readily appreciate the history and the struggle of our country, and I had to find a way to communicate to them the vision of Jamaica, so I said to them, look, Jamaica is the Wakanda. It’s aspirational. It’s the little country that could, and the little country that did. It’s the country that has achieved so much and still could achieve so much more. And that’s why you’re all here because you all believe in the promise Jamaica.
Despite all the challenges we have, despite all the botheration and I’m one prime minister who does not hide from those issues, that’s what I’m here for, to deal with the botheration. No matter how difficult they are, we face them but we’re also here to celebrate. Our efforts at transforming our country have yielded results. Our efforts, your efforts, your contribution, your voice in holding government to account, in informing your relatives here so that they participated in the political economy; your efforts have yielded results. Jamaica has now experienced 12 consecutive quarters of economic growth since the pandemic. It is worth recalling that prior to the pandemic, we enjoyed 20 consecutive quarters of economic growth, and this was the longest unbroken period of economic expansion since our independence.
I want to say a little bit on economic growth. Let us all agree that the economic growth that we are experiencing, one and two and three percent is not the economic growth that we want. We want 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 percent economic growth, but let us reflect on what our economic growth experience was. Sometimes it went up, most times it went down; not just that, negative for several decades, unstable. What has happened in the last decade? We have seen stability in our economy. So, I say to our millennials, our young people, and those who are sceptical about Jamaica, and they say our economic growth is low. No one disputes that but our economic growth is better than it has ever been in the history of Jamaica. You cannot build Wakanda on unpredictable economic growth. You can only build Wakanda by having sustained economic growth and stability.
When I was going to university, The University of the West Indies, I recall doing a paper for my economics class, and I had to look at the unemployment rate and our unemployment rates have been fairly high over the last four or five decades. And we have gone up as high as 13, 14 percent unemployment. What has changed since my administration? Unemployment has come all the way down. We are now at our lowest unemployment rate in the history of Jamaica, at 4.2%.
Now whatever I’m telling you, are facts. These are not the facts you get on social media. These are facts that are verifiable. Very important because I know the diaspora keeps connected and you keep connected by what you get from your social media feeds, much of which is incorrect so I’m giving you facts. There’s two ways in which Jamaica has changed in a positive and sustainable way. And just to put that into context, since 2016, we have created over 156,000 jobs. The challenge that we have now, and we hear the criticisms, these are low paying jobs, and we need high paying jobs. We agree with you, but would you rather have no job? So, it’s a stepping stone; it’s a building process. So, the first thing is to get all our people into employment and then, I’ll speak about this later, we’re going to train them while they’re in employment so that they can upskill as is being done in the societies and countries that many of you are coming from in the diaspora.
Then another important way in which we’re improving Jamaica, tangible and fundamental change towards Jamaica becoming the fulfilment of the dream that you all have. A decade ago, our debt was somewhere in the region of between 150 and 140 percent of GDP, depending on what variables you would use. That’s very high so at that time, Jamaica was one of the most indebted countries in the world. Today, I’m pleased to report that our debt-to-GDP ratio is now at 72%. We have basically cut it in half.
Now let me be clear on this, the Jamaica Labour Party which forms the government doesn’t lay claim to this singularly. The truth is that some of the work towards cutting debt was done in the Bruce Golding administration then it was picked up and advanced under the Portia Simpson Miller led administration and former Minister of Finance, Peter Phillips, played a great role in that and we must embrace and acknowledge that, that this is a Jamaica achievement. We took the baton, and we institutionalized it.
Just as a point of departure, the institutionalization of good fiscal management, it is not only about laws and institutions, but it is also what government determines to practice. Very important because when the political pressures are applied on a government and a Cabinet to spend recklessly, that is the beginning of the destruction of your fiscal discipline and the return to high debt. Even at the risk of unpopularity and political frustration, this government, has decided to maintain fiscal discipline; that is a transformation in the politics of our country.
For fiscal year 2022/ 2023, Jamaica recorded a balance of payment surplus on our current account of US 352.4 million dollars. The last time Jamaica had a current account surplus was in 1966. Our net international reserves reached a record high of us 5.1 billion dollars in March 2024. Now, when I was growing up and I was at the university again, having to look at these figures, you’re at 1.82 billion, somewhere around there. Sometimes we went down to below $1 billion. We have never been at 5.1 billion dollars in reserves.
I want to make two comments on the reserves. The first is I want to recognize and place on record the appreciation of the government for the tremendous support and contribution of the diaspora. As mentioned by the leader of the opposition and Minister Johnson Smith, when tourism earnings fell off, went down to literally zero, it was the members of the diaspora that shared their income with their Jamaican family. One of the things I’ve heard being said whenever we speak about the reserve is, and I can understand it, it’s a simplistic argument, but it’s a common-sense argument, that you have all of this reserve and look at all the problems in the country. It’s a thinking that is in the minds of many Jamaicans, including members of the diaspora.
The moment you don’t have the reserve is the moment you have problems. The size of the reserve acts as a protection for your foreign exchange rate. If people ever believe you cannot defend your rate, they will drive your rate up and you always need to have a reserve. If you look at all the countries that are doing well, they maintain a reserve. I’m not just talking about the foreign exchange reserve, but generally you must have reserves and that is a part of good fiscal management. So, what has changed in Jamaica, is that Jamaica is now building buffers and reserves and that has been possible because we have created an environment of fiscal certainty with eight consecutive budgets of no new taxes.
Now, I know some people just don’t like to hear when we say that, but it is a reality, it’s a part of your success that your government has been able to do this. Not many other countries can claim that that’s a part of the dividend of good economic management. For those persons who lived in Jamaica during the period 2011 to 2015, you will recall the impact of taxation. We have changed that, and we intend to make this a sustainable feature of the Jamaican economic landscape. One of the things that this administration has done is to change its economic policy to target inflation.
Inflation is the bane of democratic governments. It wipes out value, but you still need a little bit of inflation to spur growth so it’s a tricky thing to manage. You want to have some inflation, but not wild inflation. So, our policy is to target inflation between 4% and 6%. Over time, who knows, maybe we’ll adjust that target down as our economy becomes more robust but that is the point that the technocrats have set to be that sweet spot for Jamaica and we have been maintaining that except during the pandemic; inflation went up to almost 12%. Everyone in this room, from across the globe, in whichever country you are, would have experienced that spike in inflation.
However, there are some who would say it’s the government’s fault and as I observe campaigns around the world, the arguments are similar about how governments manage cost of living and inflation. Jamaica has done, I would say, fairly well in bringing down inflation. We are now at 5.2%. We are within our target range, and we intend to keep pushing that inflation down. I’ll say a little bit more from a policy perspective because as members of the diaspora, I want you to get a sense of what the government is going to do to improve cost of living in Jamaica.
Now, in November 2023, the government of Jamaica for the first time issued a Jamaican dollar linked international bond amounting to JMD 46.6 billion dollars, the equivalent of US 300 million dollars. Now, I know members of the diaspora will immediately understand the significance of this in terms of what it means for investor confidence. When you are able to issue an international instrument linked to your currency, that is a massive sign of confidence. It says your currency is exhibiting a certain level of sustained stability that mitigates risk because you have reserves. We have come a long way since the days when we struggled with high debt and limited resources and now what is the next challenge for your government?
The next challenge is to create peace in our country and to increase productivity. Those are the two main challenges. We have attained economic stability; how do we get to now peace and how do we increase productivity? Many of you are here because you’re concerned about the peace element. I heard that the engagement yesterday with the security personnel, that it was very robust, and you’ve got a chance to ask all your difficult questions. And I’m hopeful that it would have changed certain perceptions about what Jamaica is doing on the national security front.
Let me just say very quickly, national security is just one element of peace building. Peace building is a multilayered and complex policy strategy, but on the national security element, Jamaica has never had the level of investment in our national security apparatus than has occurred under this administration. The investments have been in the human resources. We have increased our security forces significantly. We have addressed the issue of attrition from the security forces. We have incorporated in a significant way new technologies. We have trained the leadership of our security forces. When you look at the JCF’s leadership today and you compare it in the past, you can see a substantial difference in the leadership of the JCF. Substantial investments have been made in the training of the human resource, but we have also improved our operational strategies and it is bearing fruit.
The question is, how fast can we get this fruit to mature? Meaning, how fast can we get that murder rate down, how fast can we get the serious crime rate down, how fast can we get the gangs under control? There are some people who say, look at El Salvador, why can’t you do it like El Salvador? And my response is Jamaica is a liberal democracy. Our laws are different, our standards here are different, and we have many more issues that we have to balance. And so, our approach has to be a gradual one, and our approach has to bring the people along with us and my own view is that our strategies are working. Our murder rate is now about 10 percent below what it was last year this time, and we experienced a similar reduction last year.
The strategy is to continue to push that homicide rate downwards. The number of gangs that threatened us have been basically cut in half. We have dismantled many of the violence producing gangs. We have introduced significant technologies, and I won’t speak too much about technology. I know there was some concern where members of the diaspora offered to assist with technology and computers and so forth and it may have created some dissonance in the offer being made versus the acceptance. The truth is that our security forces have created an ecosystem where you have to be very specific with technology that you introduced to it. It’s an entire ecosystem so a donation of one thing here might not necessarily fit within that ecosystem and we have to protect that ecosystem so things that are coming into it, we have to be certain of what is going into that ecosystem, and it is working. I won’t say too much about investments that we have made, but this is how we have been able to dismantle the gangs.
In addition to which, we have made massive investments in MOCA, our Major Organized Crime Agency, and we have been dismantling those criminal networks that are operating in the cyber realm as well. So, I want to give you the assurance as a diaspora that we are taking a multifaceted, multi-layer strategic approach in reducing crime without, at the same time, violating the human rights and the standards that our people expect of us.
We have reached a point in the country where- I was listening to their news reports yesterday, and I just laughed to myself, where there was a certain gentleman complaining that the government is building too many police stations. It’s crazy, but the truth is that the investments that have been made in the security apparatus is significant. Some of them you won’t see the benefit upfront. For example, we’ve made massive investments in the ability to protect our borders with offshore patrol vessels and radars and such.
There is a problem in Haiti and every so often we will get a boat or two, but the problem is managed. It’s not the same problem as the Bahamas or Turks and Caicos, because we have capabilities which we have deployed, and these capabilities are enduring. If a disaster were to strike, please let none happen, but Jamaica has been able to respond not just to disasters in Jamaica, but when Dominica was wiped out by a major hurricane, we were able to send our disaster assistance and recovery team to Dominica for six months. When there was a disaster in the Bahamas, we were able to send so Jamaica has built a security architecture that it’s not perfect, I’ll be the first to tell you that, it’s still a work in progress but we are now a much more secure nation than we were a decade before.
On health care, another subject for which I know many persons have grave concerns. I mean, we are starting from a deficit, and we can admit that for the last 30 years, there’s really been no investment of any significance in healthcare. The major investment in healthcare would have been the creation of The National Health Insurance Fund, which was created under the previous administration. And that continues to endure and significantly so but in terms of health infrastructure, we haven’t built a new hospital. So, if you’re saying what is the quality of service that you get? There are two key elements to quality of service; one is the quality of the infrastructure, and one is the quality of care given by the staff and the professionals. Both are connected, but certainly if your infrastructure is poor, it adds even greater pressure on the staff and their ability to deliver health with care.
So, what do we need to correct first and foremost? We need to increase the capacity of the health system to ensure that there is space for a bed for every patient that needs it. We need to build new wards and new health facilities. And how do we do this? You can only do this by either borrowing or ensuring that you run your economy well that it generates the revenues which you then invest in the critical things that improve the quality of life of your citizens and that is exactly what your government has done.
So, we have taken on the mammoth task all at once, never been done before. In this parish, we have spent billions upgrading the Cornwall Regional Health Facility. Some of you may know this, this facility is a more than 50-year-old facility. It was a gift from the government of Canada to us. Never got any maintenance or repairs of any significance for 50 years. Those of you who are coming from countries where you have these high-rise buildings, you know that they go through a rigorous process of maintenance. These buildings reach the end of useful life and they’re either torn down, or they go through extensive renovations. We have decided to extensively renovate. It’s practically a new building. And then, just opposite that building, we’re building a new hospital, a children/ adolescent hospital. It will be a state-of-the-art facility, not just for Jamaica, but the entire Caribbean region.
Mark will understand when I say that I was born in Spanish Town. You were born at the University Hospital in St Andrew. I have a special place in my heart for that hospital. I used to play there when I was a child. My best friend’s mother was the matron so I used to leave Spanish Town Primary and go on the grounds and play there but everyone in Spanish Town will tell you that the facility was built by the colonial government by a grant and since then, it really hasn’t had any major improvements. Now we are building a brand-new wing of the hospital. Essentially, it’s a total rebuilding of the hospital. We’re building new facilities at the University Hospital of the West Indies. We’re building new facilities at the Bustamante Children’s Hospital. So, we are undertaking a massive transformation of the infrastructure of our healthcare system, which will increase our capacity and improve the ability of health workers to deliver care.
And I say it in that way because recently there have been incidents which have been widely covered in the press for which I’m very disturbed by what I’ve heard, and I’ve ordered investigations into them. They should come to me at Cabinet next week with a full report, but these are issues that as your government, as your prime minister, I take them very deeply to heart and we commit to doing everything within our powers to ensure that every single Jamaican that needs healthcare can get access to the healthcare that they need.
One of the ways in which we’re changing Jamaica is that we’ve been categorized as a kind of low growth, low wage economy and because of this issue of not having predictable growth this segment of the society that has suffered because of poor economic performance would be labour; that’s the reality. And labour suffers not just because of low wage, labour suffers because of high inflation. So, if you’re earning a low wage, and then you have to confront high inflation, then the cost of living is going to be high.
What is the solution to this vicious cycle? Low wage, high inflation, low productivity which creates low wage, you get back to a high inflation situation, how do you break out of that? That’s a deep question, I’m not expecting you to answer it, but one of the first things we have decided to do is we have to make an adjustment where we can in wages, so we have taken a decision to make the largest increase in public sector wages undertaken ever in the history of the country. It’s a 200 billion dollar increase essentially when it is completed, and it is the first time that we have increased wages on a sustainable path. Previous administrations have tried, but they have never done it all at once. And whenever they have done it, within a year or so, they have to implement a wage freeze because the other element, which I’m going to come to shortly, we need to address the issue of productivity.
Now, whenever I say productivity, a large part of the country hears hard work, more work, “dem want we work more and don’t pay we more” and as Prime Minister, I have to be very careful how I deal with these very delicate subjects because of our history but it has to be addressed. Even if we were to radically increase wages and radically increase the minimum wage, if that is not sustained by a commensurate increase in productivity, then those increases become inflationary. So I’m saying it to you, the members of the diaspora, because you have an incredible influence when you pick up the phone and talk to your grandmother or your brother and your sister and you are able to explain to them the policies because the policies that we are trying to implement are the same policies that you are every single day observing in the countries from which you come.
Efficiency and productivity are hallmarks of your developed societies in which you are. They are not viewed as an imposition. Every single worker understands and appreciate that, yes, because I have produced more, I have a claim for more pay. And so that is a culture that we need to build here in Jamaica, and you can be of great assistance to us to make that connection that government can increase the wages, but if we are increasing the wages without addressing productivity, we are only tricking you because that increase is going to come back as high inflation. The two-pronged strategies, we’re increasing as much as we can whilst balancing the inflation so you don’t have to suffer from that, but we must now be on this very rigorous pathway of producing more.
So, remember when I said we’re increasing at about one to two percent of our growth? It is now sustainable. It is an increase in the productivity, not just of labour by the way, not just of the worker, but how is management structuring business processes and workflows, how are we integrating technology in our business processes and workflow, how are we creating new products, this business of innovation?
So, you asked me, what is the next frontier to create Wakanda? That is it, Mark; that it; productivity. Peace, productivity; two critical things to create the virtuous cycle. So, remember we’re trying to come out of this vicious cycle that we were in, low-wage, low-productivity, high inflation, high debt, which leads to high violence which leads to low wages, low productivity etc. so we’re trying to break that now to create more productivity, which will lead to better wages, which will lead to a more peaceful society, which will lead to greater productivity, which will get us to prosperity.
Ladies and gentlemen, you have been a wonderful audience. You are all very beautiful. Welcome home and thank you for choosing Jamaica. God bless you.