Two grants to promote Jamaica’s logistics hub development and connectivity were approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Governing Committee during its meeting in Beijing on 24 June. The projects will be implemented by the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF).

A USD420,000 MCDF grant will support capacity building activities to enhance a roadmap and master plan for the Government of Jamaica’s Logistics Hub Initiative (LHI), which aims to leverage the Caribbean island’s location as a maritime corridor linking the Americas and Asia to become a global leader in trans-shipment and logistics services.

“With this MCDF approval, we are combining technical and financial efforts to turn Jamaica into a logistical hub of the Caribbean, which in turn will promote regional integration,” said Ignacio Corlazzoli, Resource Mobilization and Global Alliances Manager at CAF.

The grant will fund work to update the LHI master plan’s content in the context of the changing geopolitical landscape, digitalization trends, and shipping market consolidation and based on a review and validation process.

The grant will also support institutional capacity building for Jamaica’s Caymanas Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Authority. The focus will be on strengthening SEZ management, investment promotion, and regulatory compliance, equipping stakeholders with knowledge and skills to prepare a pilot connectivity infrastructure project in-line with International Financial Institution standards.

A parallel USD157,500 MCDF grant will provide concept development support focused on generating reliable information about 11 prospective Caymanas SEZ projects identified by the Government of Jamaica and tracking the dynamics between targeted infrastructure. This includes its potential to drive investment, trade, and job creation.

MCDF’s grant will fund due diligence for priority investment roadmap development, establishing criteria for short-listing a pilot project, related data collection, and defining the institutional and implementation arrangements and a tentative investment and financing plan.

This work will ultimately seek to identify the Caymanas SEZ pilot project for CAF financing.