Johnson Smith urges Jamaicans overseas to invest, create opportunities at home
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith
Key Points(5)
- Johnson Smith made the call Saturday while addressing the Jamaica Organization of New Jersey Independence Gala, where she and several others were honored as Jamaica marked its 64th anniversary of Independence.
- The minister, who also has responsibility for diaspora affairs, said Jamaicans abroad should not be viewed as detached observers of the country’s development but as active participants in shaping its future.
- “Whether your contribution is your capital, your knowledge, your professional expertise, your business networks, your advocacy — or simply your time — there is a role for you in that work,” Johnson Smith said.
- She praised Jamaicans overseas for providing relief in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane but said the reconstruction process provides opportunities for deeper involvement.
- “That assistance was invaluable.
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith is calling on Jamaicans overseas to play a more direct role in the country’s development, saying diaspora engagement should increasingly extend beyond remittances and philanthropy to investment, entrepreneurship and the transfer of expertise.
Johnson Smith made the call Saturday while addressing the Jamaica Organization of New Jersey Independence Gala, where she and several others were honored as Jamaica marked its 64th anniversary of Independence.
The minister, who also has responsibility for diaspora affairs, said Jamaicans abroad should not be viewed as detached observers of the country’s development but as active participants in shaping its future.
“Whether your contribution is your capital, your knowledge, your professional expertise, your business networks, your advocacy — or simply your time — there is a role for you in that work,” Johnson Smith said.
“I therefore invite you, as you remain connected to Jamaica, [to] also help us build the country to which you, your children and your grandchildren will always be able to return.”
Johnson Smith pointed to Jamaica’s reconstruction following Hurricane Melissa as an opportunity to rethink the relationship between the country and its diaspora.
She praised Jamaicans overseas for providing relief in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane but said the reconstruction process provides opportunities for deeper involvement.
“That assistance was invaluable. But reconstruction also gives us the opportunity to move the relationship to another level: From relief to rebuilding. From giving to investing and creating wealth. From supporting Jamaica, to participating directly in her development,” she said.
The minister said rebuilding will require expertise in engineering, architecture, construction management, technology and logistics, along with investment and innovation in housing, energy, water, transportation and disaster resilience.
Much of that expertise and capital already exists within Jamaican communities overseas, she said.
Johnson Smith said there should be opportunities for Jamaican engineers, architects, planners, entrepreneurs and investors abroad, as well as second- and third-generation Jamaicans who want to contribute despite never having lived on the island.
She also called for stronger commercial links between Jamaican businesses at home and those operated by members of the diaspora.
Such partnerships, she said, could help open supply chains, transfer technology, expand markets and allow small and medium-sized businesses to participate in Jamaica’s reconstruction efforts.
Johnson Smith argued that the diaspora’s contribution should increasingly be measured by economic and developmental outcomes.
“Our relationship has never been measurable simply by remittances — as I know some try to do — or even by the assistance mobilised when Jamaica faces crisis,” she said.
“Increasingly, we can work towards measuring that relationship by businesses created, investments made, expertise transferred, partnerships formed, and opportunities created for Jamaicans at home and abroad.”
She said the government, in turn, has a responsibility to make it easier for members of the diaspora to identify credible opportunities, navigate government institutions and invest in Jamaica with confidence.
Johnson Smith also pointed to the establishment of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority, saying its mandate extends beyond replacing infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Melissa.
She said the goal is to build more resilient roads and bridges, safer housing and stronger public infrastructure while improving land-use planning and preparing communities to withstand future disasters.
“For all the damage Hurricane Melissa caused, it has compelled us to confront long-standing questions about how we build, where we build, and how effectively the State delivers the infrastructure a modern, resilient Jamaica requires,” Johnson Smith said.
She added that while Jamaica’s Independence in 1962 represented taking responsibility for building the country’s future, 64 years later that responsibility extends to Jamaicans around the world.
“I look forward to the next chapter of our partnership as, together, we build a safer, stronger, more resilient and more prosperous Jamaica,” she said.
