“What
the Jamaican people are going to see is jobs. They are going to see high-level,
good-paying jobs. It is anticipated that the Zone will generate in excess of
10,000 jobs directly and indirectly, with 2,500 of those jobs being top-level
jobs, within the period”
Managing Director of
Gulfray Americas, Martin Scott explaining Gulfray Americas and CNAICO's plans
to build an automobile manufacturing plant
Jamaica
may soon become a manufacturer of Motor vehicles in the next three (3) years
continuing the tradition of
Gulfray
Americas has partnered with CNAICO (China National Automotive Industry International
Corporation) to set up a US$350 million dollar Automobile assembly line in
Spanish town as reported in the article “New
motor vehicle assembly plant to provide 2,500 jobs by June”, published
Wednesday, October 28, 2015, The
Jamaica Observer.
CNAICO, a subsidiary of China National Machinery Industry Corporation, will be building out their Auto manufacturing plant at the Spanish Town Free Zone located at 8 March Pen Road, St Catherine, benefitting from all the incentives that operating in a Free Zone can bring.
So
what are the details of this motor vehicle assembly plant as well as the coming
Spanish Town Free Zone?
Gulfray Americas and
CNAICO Auto Manufacturing plant - Why Spanish Town Free Zone will benefit
Jamaica
The
construction of the Spanish Town Free Zone will take about three (3) years.
Once
up and running, Masada Jamaica Limited will manage the day-to-day running of
the Free Zone, with Gulfray Americas and CNAICO being board members on the
Board for the Spanish Town Free Zone as reported in the article “Motor
Vehicle Assembly Plant For Spanish Town ...10,000 Jobs Projected”,
published Wednesday October 28, 2015, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
That
means being able to apply work rules related to the country of origin that the
companies are from as well as freedom from taxation, as a free Zone is
effectively a mini embassy, just geared towards work. Their automobile plant
will see the following activities taking place:
1.
Auto parts remanufacturing and
distribution
2.
Car, bus, and truck assembly
3.
Manufacturing of composites and
insulating material
4.
Refining and regeneration of petroleum
products
5.
State-of-the-art injection moulding
The
joint partnership between Gulfray Americas and CNAICO will result in a large
number of persons being employed, mainly from the Spanish Town area:
1.
10,000 direct and indirect jobs
2.
2500 top level jobs i.e. supervisors and
managers
Managing
Director of Gulfray Americas, Martin Scott hopes to have their Auto plant up
and operational within three (3) years and manufacturing trucks and vans first,
quote: “The full Zone should be completed within the next two years. We are at
phase one now. We are already up and
operational
with our partners from Dubai ... . We are already testing equipment. We are
putting up a manufacturing plant for trucks and buses and light trucks until we
get into the manufacturing of automobiles”.
There
are also plans to undertake other manufacturing activities as well:
1.
Manufacturing of pharmaceutical and
nutraceutical products
2.
Manufacturing and distribution of
personal-care products
The
companies that will be undertaking that work haven't been mentioned, but the
benefits to Jamaica will be immense, especially as we have good taste in
automobiles as argued in my Geezam blog
article entitled “Why
Tata Nano and Cherry QQ failed in Jamaica as Vehicle manufacturing here by June
2016”.
Once
this Spanish Town Free Zone is built within the three (3) years and is up and
running, it will benefit Jamaica as it will demonstrate that business can be
set up in areas of Jamaica that are perceived as crime-ridden.
Jamaica
expects great things once this US$350 Auto manufacturing plant is built!
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