JSEZA adopts UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals

The Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority (JSEZA) has adopted the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are being targeted for attainment within 12 years in relation to a wide range of social and economic development issues.

These focus on addressing education, energy, the environment, health, hunger, poverty, decent work and economic growth.

The SDGs form part of Special Economic Zones’ (SEZs’) developmental framework in Jamaica, and are thought to be pivotal to fulfilling the SEZs’ mandate.

This mandate focuses on developing a regime and environment in which globally competitive firms thrive while driving unprecedented growth and development for all stakeholders/interests in a logistics-centred economy, as articulated in the Government’s SEZ Policy.

The SDGs deemed directly aligned with the SEZ mandate are Goals 7 – affordable and clean energy; 8 – decent work and economic growth; 9 – industry, innovation and infrastructure; 11 – sustainable cities and communities; 12 – responsible consumption and production; and 17 – partnerships for the goals.

Director of Investor Relations and Communications at JSEZA, Kelli-Dawn Hamilton, notes that the Authority needs to be in a positon to determine whether a potential investment is consistent with the SEZ regime’s overall developmental objectives.

To this end, the entity must weigh the economic, environmental and social sustainability of proposed projects, by considering their potential to contribute to Jamaica achieving targets in the SEZ Policy, Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan, Logistics Hub Initiative Master Plan and Industry Analysis, and SDGs.