Minister of Transport and Works, Mike Henry, recently played host to the Japanese Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Hiroshi Yamaguchi, in an effort to establish new strategies, and fortify existing links between the two nations. Minister Henry outlined Jamaica’s multi-modal approach to transportation, which includes a synergized link with air, sea, land and rail in order to maximize time, effort and capital. 

He stressed that with Jamaica’s geographic location, the shipment of goods, especially from the Far East, will be done more efficiently by taking advantage of Jamaica’s strategic location in order for goods to arrive at their destinations on time.  He also emphasized that Jamaica and the Port Authority are poised to take advantage of such business opportunities through the development of multi-modal logistics and distribution hub services. This, he explained, could see goods arriving at the ports and being connected by rail and land to the airport (or vice versa) and off to other destinations across the world within hours.

Ambassador Yamaguchi embraced the concept and said that his country will move aggressively in forging a symbiotic relationship with Jamaica. Among the other topics discussed were the development of Vernamfield as a major aerodrome, the proposed development of rail transportation, and the expansion of maritime training at the Caribbean Maritime Institute. Ambassador Yamaguchi will also visit the Caribbean Maritime Institute, the only Accredited Training Organization (ATO) in the maritime transportation sector across the Caribbean.