Jamaican PM seeks closer cooperation with U.S.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told a National Press Club Newsmaker April 1 that the U.S. can help transform the Caribbean nation into an economic powerhouse within the next decade.

“We need the support of our critical partners. Jamaica will not be able to do it alone,” Holness said. “We need to look forward, be practical, be strategic and work with our neighbor, which is the strongest economy in the world.”

The prime minister pointed to areas where he said the two countries could benefit from enhanced cooperation, including amping up security in the region to ensure stability and promoting Jamaica among the U.S. private sector as a prime spot for investment or as a provider for outsourced labor. 

“Jamaica and the United States have shared values, shared ideals and shared interests, but we have never been able to leverage that for our economic development,” Holness said.

Holness’ appearance at the Club came amid a five-day trip to Washington aimed at promoting Jamaica’s long term economic development. It also included a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris that marked the first time a Jamaican leader had visited the White House since 1995.

The meeting, Holness said, proved fruitful. Not only did Jamaica secure a pledge for $20 million in investments over the next 5 years but the two countries agreed to continue a strategic dialogue, he said.

“If we manage to get the working group that we proposed together between Jamaica and the United States to sit down and look at the microeconomics of how we get there to, to examine the details and see the opportunities, and to create a plan to secure Jamaica economically and socially, we could very well see Jamaica emerging in the next decade as the Singapore of the region,” Holness said, referencing another democracy that successfully transitioned to a developed nation.

While he said he did not expect any special favors from Harris, whose father was born in Jamaica, he did hint that her ties to the country came up in the conversation. 

“I made an a point, which had an unintended effect,” he said. “I said that Jamaica for decades has been a net exporter of talent to the world and specifically to the United States. And, of course, that was met with a chuckle.”

 “I won't say by whom,” he joked. “But you can guess.”

Holness acknowledged the controversy around his earlier remarks to the United Kingdom’s Duke and Duchess of Cambridge that Jamaica was “moving on” from the British monarchy, which still maintains a governor general as the official head of state.

He said “unresolved issues,” including reparations for slavery, needed to be resolved.

“Most Jamaicans now believe it is time that we install our own head of state,” Holness said. “We’ve put forward a process to examine our constitution, to look at our laws, and to ensure that when we do it, we do it in the proper, in the correct way, which would include a referendum so that our people can have a say in what the final architecture of our nation is.”