International Businessman Joe Issa In Global Positioning Mode, Wants Jamaica Fast-track Business-fri

It is highly anticipated by Jamaican businesses that they could soon be better positioned to take advantage of international business made possible by a big reduction in the cost of doing business and greater facilitation of trade.

Now, as Jamaica’s needs become even greater, popular businessman Joe Issa, who is already leveraging his Cool Group of Companies in the international market, is among the expectant urging to fast track the process of making Jamaica the place of choice to do business.

“Creating a business-friendly environment is critical for international business and trade, especially in terms of attracting foreign investments to the island to grow the economy and enabling local companies to take positions in the global market.

“Sometimes, however, I think it is taking too long to get there and wish the process could be fast-tracked, especially when your containers on the wharf are taking long to clear and investors waiting to come in but are choked by bureaucracy, even as other territories lurk to grab Jamaica’s missed opportunities” says Issa, who is the executive chairman of Cool Corporation.

Issa adds that while the country has made some strides in integrating the economy with those of the international community by bringing down the cost of trade and in particular, by establishing special economic zones, he thinks it’s coming on too slowly and needs to move faster.”

“If we want to get to where we are going, we have to play it by the rules; it can’t be business as usual and as we please. We are not alone anymore; we are part of a global economy where trading has its own rules and regulations, which supersede our own.

“What it means is that we have to abide by the trade facilitation rules of the WTO (World Trade Organisation), which is the governing body. If we don’t, we will lose opportunities to be included in critical decision-making that can affect companies here and the general well-being of the country,” says Issa.

In underscoring the importance of being compliant with multilateral and bilateral trade regimes especially in relation to making inroads into our biggest market, the US, Issa, who is seeking to make his Cool Corporation a global brand, argues that “we will only be scratching the surface if we continue to ignore trading rules and do not seek to be compliant,” adding, “We can ignore them but it will be at our own slow pace of world integration, and economic peril.”