In Times of Optimism: Joe Issa Tells Consumers and Businesses to “Trust in Belief That Better Will Come!”

Executive Chairman of Cool Group of Companies Joe Issa, who has served the St. Ann business community for decades, shares the current heightened confidence in the economy, urging businesses to maintain their optimism and confidence in 2017.

“I share the confidence felt by the business sector and consumers; it’s a good feeling, especially when you have more to spend and resources like assets to put to work and create jobs, especially at a time of low and stable inflation.

“I want to encourage them and to say to them to trust in their belief that better will come,” says Issa, who is a member of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce Past President Advisory Committee.

Issa, who was being interviewed at the time about the prospects for the Jamaican economy for 2017, was referencing the latest Don Anderson poll which shows that confidence and optimism in the economy have remained high throughout the year.

“This is really good news for the prospects of the Jamaican economy. I would like to encourage the business sector in particular, to maintain their optimism and confidence and to start investing again to grow the economy,” Issa says, while calling for support for the government’s growth measures which are already beginning to bear fruit.

Noting that the current optimism of the business community is a continuation of the momentum brought by the package of measures leading to and after the February 2016 general election, Issa says, “What we are seeing today is the same kind of optimism we saw just before and after the general election.”

Research shows that for the first quarter of last year, a Don Anderson Survey said the business sector in Jamaica had not been as optimistic about the economy ever since the announcement of a package of economic policies by the JLP leading to the general election.

The survey, which found that optimism had reached a 15-year high in the first quarter of 2016, was sponsored by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and published in the Business Observer.

Stating that optimism had increased by 17.6 per cent for the first quarter of 2016, compared with the last quarter of 2015, the JCC was quoted as saying that “while the first quarter gains were widespread across firms, the largest gain was in how firms judged the prospects for the Jamaican economy – surging 57 per cent from last quarter to result in the 15-year peak.”

The report noted that “new peaks were also recorded in profit expectations as well as investment intentions.”

In emphasizing the similarity of the four quarters of 2016, Issa says confidence and optimism remains high in all of them, showing a continuation of the momentum experienced in the first quarter.

According to the latest Don Anderson report, business and consumers enjoyed the longest ever period of economic optimism, with Anderson saying “these surveys have never before recorded as long nor as high a sustained period of economic optimism”

Economic confidence among Jamaican firms is said to have increased to an index of 142.0 for the fourth quarter of 2016, up from 139.2 in the third quarter, and that it remained at record high levels for all four quarters of 2016, than at any time over the last 15 years.  

Light at End of Tunnel Not Just another Train: “It’s the Ride to Prosperity, Get On board!” Joe Issa Urges

Observers tracking the positive developments taking place in the Jamaican economy since last year and into this year, concur with businessman Joe Issa that the light which he saw at the end of the tunnel at the dawning of 2017 was in reality not another in-coming train, but a bright future heading Jamaica’s way.

Joey Issa

 “I see a bright light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not the proverbial in-coming train, but rather, a new and more inclusive era of prosperity rising from the horizon…I urge everyone to get on board …It’s an era that is more resilient to crime and violence and unemployment,” Issa says in an interview, on his outlook for Jamaica as 2016 faded into 2017.

Issa has traditionally been sought after for his New Year outlook on the Jamaican economy as member of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce Past Presidents Advisory Committee and as a successful businessman whose business model for his Cool Group has been compared with that of his colleague Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.

A popular civic leader, Issa says he sees further improvements in several micro sectors as well as in the macro economy, which continues to stabilize and enable growth.

“The economic gains will make us stronger in the fight against the country’s major ills and will engender a new era of unity around our shared goals,” says Issa, who is also a qualified conflict mediator and Roman Catholic Eucharistic Minister.

“I am confident that the strides being made by the Ministry of Justice and its social partners in fighting crime and violence and making justice more palatable will reap rewards in the long run,” he says, as he recalls the hands of friendship and partnership extended by the Prime Minister to all Jamaicans whether in civil society or in opposition for them to get onboard

“I believe he deserves a chance to prove himself, especially with two pieces of legislation which will go a far way to reducing political tension and social and economic insecurity in the country.”

Issa was referencing the prime minister’s legislative agenda, including setting a fixed date for general elections, which was outlined by the Governor-General in his throne speech at the opening of the 2016/2017 Parliament.

“We all know what uncertainty surrounding the date of a general election can do to a country such as ours, in terms of stifling investment and heightening social tension,” Issa argues.

 

No stranger to advocacy, Issa has previously spoken out in public against several of Jamaica’s ills including environmental degradation, corruption, crime and violence, unemployment and poverty.

Recent developments proving Issa right about his latest vision for Jamaica include low inflation, a huge net international reserve, and stability in the slide of the Jamaican dollar, growth and renewed confidence and optimism in the economy by both consumers and businesses.

Joe Issa Supports Move To Press On With Public Sector Reform

Mere weeks after announcing that a new head office would be built to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) some 100 vacant posts at the executive agency are to be abolished.

The move, said to involve a total of 138 posts across ministries, agencies and departments is stipulated by the Civil Service Establishment (General) Order, 2016, which was approved recently by the House of Representatives to effect changes to the 2015 Order, including reclassification and new posts created, re-titling and upgrading of posts and the effective dates for these changes.

Chairman of PICA- Joey Issa

Stating in an interview, that the public sector reform programmed is the centre piece of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionality, chairman of PICA Joe Issa, said “it is important to streamline how we do business, in order to keep us relevant and make our public sector more efficient and effective.”

“The way we have been doing business in Jamaica, our processes, etc., has gone out of whack with the best practices in the international community, so we need to change or be left behind by foreign investors, as well as by our own business sector that is thwart by bureaucracy and other structural impediments,” Issa explains.

Among the major changes to be effected by the Order is the modernization of the Accountant General’s Department to strengthen public financial management, in keeping with the thrust to improve efficiency in the public sector and to meet IMF conditionality, Minister of Finance and the Public Service Auddley Shaw has said, according to the Jamaica Observer.

Other changes reported include Amendment to the Judicature Resident Magistrate’s Act, which enacts the renaming of the senior resident magistrate to senior judge of the parish court and renaming the resident magistrate to judge of the parish court.

The 2016 Order, which was presented in Parliament by Minister Shaw, also includes the revision of salaries for the 2015 to 2017 contract period, based on the Heads of Agreement which was signed between the Government and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions. It also repeals the Office of the Trustee in Bankruptcy and establishes the Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency and Office of the Government Trustee, the newspaper reported.

PICA, which became an executive agency on June 1, 2007, conducts incoming and outgoing immigration examination of all persons entering or leaving Jamaica by air and sea; it administers visas, entry permits and other documents for non-Jamaican visitors and residents; handles requests for permanent residency status; manages the deportation and repatriation of those persons not qualified to remain in Jamaica; and handles matters relating to refugees to the island.

According to its website, the agency is governed by the Jamaican Constitution, The Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizen) Act, The Jamaica Nationality Act, The Alien’s Act, The Passport Act and Regulations, The Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Employment) Act, The Caribbean Community (Free Movement) of Skilled Persons Act, The Executive Agencies Act 2002, and The Financial Administration and Audit Act.

2017/18 Budget: “Something for Everyone, More for Critical Some!” – Joe Issa

Founder of Cool Corp Joe Issa, a past economics and accounting major at not one, but two of the world’s top universities and hemispheres, who backs the free market and an adequate social safety net to deliver growth for Jamaica and a better life for workers, has characterized the 2017/18 budget as having something for everyone and more for some critical pillars of the economy.

Joey Issa

“I think this budget is well carved. First and foremost, we needed to continue the economic reform programme facilitating reduction in the country’s high debt structure of 120% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), which is a major impediment to economic growth and a condition for our continued relationship with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) that also includes a primary surplus target of seven per cent of GDP.

“So I am pleased that these have been taken into account in casting the budget, evidenced by the over-50 per cent allocated to the Finance Ministry which leads the [economic] reform programme and in particular, the big increase in the amount allocated to pay debt, bearing in mind that as the debt goes down and more growth is realized, everyone benefits.

“In addition, it [the budget] needed to support the implementation of several growth-inducing [capital] projects, seen in the big increase in capital expenditure and the widening of the social safety net, as reflected by increases for PATH beneficiaries, as well as for the school feeding programme, which has gone up from three days to five days a week.

“Hence the priority given to making education and health care systems more relevant in the changing environment, increasing the capacity of the security forces to fight crime and protect citizens, facilitating the work of the PM’s Office to spur economic growth and create jobs, and renewing the focus on the justice system to not only bring greater justice to victims, but to also prevent incidents of crime and violence,” says Issa, in the interview, noting that he likes the choice of pillars under which crime will be fought.

The former London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) student, whose views on social and economic matters are widely sought, was commenting in an interview, on the just-tabled $710 billion budget for 2017-2018, which represented an increase of 20 per cent or $112 billion over the previous fiscal year and the sectors which featured more prominently, such as education, health, national security, economic growth and job creation, justice and the Prime Minister’s Office. All other sectors combined are allocated $52 billion. 

Commentators are said to agree with Issa that the budget has been cast to increase debt servicing, for which over $300 billion, an increase of 38 per cent is allocated and to comply with conditionality related to the fiscal targets in the renegotiated economic programme with the IMF, including the achievement of the primary balance target of 7 per cent GDP. Thus, the fiscal deficit was budgeted at 0.8 per cent of GDP.  

Joe Issa Supports Move To Press On With Public Sector Reform

Mere weeks after announcing that a new head office would be built to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) some 100 vacant posts at the executive agency are to be abolished.

The move, said to involve a total of 138 posts across ministries, agencies and departments is stipulated by the Civil Service Establishment (General) Order, 2016, which was approved recently by the House of Representatives to effect changes to the 2015 Order, including reclassification and new posts created, re-titling and upgrading of posts and the effective dates for these changes.

Stating in an interview, that the public sector reform programmed is the centre piece of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionality, chairman of PICA Joe Issa, said “it is important to streamline how we do business, in order to keep us relevant and make our public sector more efficient and effective.”

“The way we have been doing business in Jamaica, our processes, etc., has gone out of whack with the best practices in the international community, so we need to change or be left behind by foreign investors, as well as by our own business sector that is thwart by bureaucracy and other structural impediments,” Issa explains.

Among the major changes to be effected by the Order is the modernization of the Accountant General’s Department to strengthen public financial management, in keeping with the thrust to improve efficiency in the public sector and to meet IMF conditionality, Minister of Finance and the Public Service Auddley Shaw has said, according to the Jamaica Observer.

Other changes reported include Amendment to the Judicature Resident Magistrate’s Act, which enacts the renaming of the senior resident magistrate to senior judge of the parish court and renaming the resident magistrate to judge of the parish court.

The 2016 Order, which was presented in Parliament by Minister Shaw, also includes the revision of salaries for the 2015 to 2017 contract period, based on the Heads of Agreement which was signed between the Government and the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions. It also repeals the Office of the Trustee in Bankruptcy and establishes the Office of the Supervisor of Insolvency and Office of the Government Trustee, the newspaper reported.

PICA, which became an executive agency on June 1, 2007, conducts incoming and outgoing immigration examination of all persons entering or leaving Jamaica by air and sea; it administers visas, entry permits and other documents for non-Jamaican visitors and residents; handles requests for permanent residency status; manages the deportation and repatriation of those persons not qualified to remain in Jamaica; and handles matters relating to refugees to the island.

According to its website, the agency is governed by the Jamaican Constitution, The Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizen) Act, The Jamaica Nationality Act, The Alien’s Act, The Passport Act and Regulations, The Foreign Nationals and Commonwealth Citizens (Employment) Act, The Caribbean Community (Free Movement) of Skilled Persons Act, The Executive Agencies Act 2002, and The Financial Administration and Audit Act.

New EGC Initiatives to Spur Economic Growth and Improved Security in Jamaica – Joe Issa

Businessman Joe Issa has said that the initiatives of the Economic Growth Council (EGC) led by banker Michael Lee-Chin could spur growth in the economy and improvements in national security.

Welcoming in Lee-Chin’s initiative, the inclusion of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), which partners with Issa’s PICA portfolio as chairman to secure Jamaica’s borders, he says the initiative could stimulate improvements in national security and the business environment.

A product of the EGC announced by chairman, Lee Chin, the multi-sector initiative aims to formulate a comprehensive and integrated approach to national security and the business environment.

In responding to questions about the initiative which, in addition of the JDF, includes the key Ministries of National Security, Justice, and Economic Growth and Job Creation, Issa says “we all have to be on board, on the same page on the important matter of protecting the island’s security and business landscape.” 

Issa adds, “There are lots of issues to be resolved in both security and business facilitation…you have issues in policing crime and investigating corruption, as well in the issue of various long-delayed licenses and permits for developments,” Issa informs.

The initiative broadly covers police reform, including a new Police Act; the establishment of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA) as a separate entity (from the JCF); further improvement of the justice sector; border security; effective use of technology; and (creating) safe communities, according to the Jamaica Observer.

The areas of focus for the business environment include improvement in the licensing and permitting regimes, reduction in the development approval timeline and the establishment of public procurement regulations. 

As EGC chairman, Lee-Chin disclosed the initiative while delivering the fourth quarter for 2016, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston recently. He said preserving the nation’s security “has to be at the foundation of all other things that we do.” 

Noting that the Government has appointed a National Security Advisor in the former JDF Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Antony Anderson, Lee-Chin said the EGC had consultations with several stakeholder ministries and agencies to formulate the comprehensive and integrated approach.

He also announced that three targets under the EGC’s eight initiatives, focusing on generating five per cent growth over the next four years, had been met, according to the newspaper report.

He identified the targets met as, “the tabling of the Building Bill in Parliament, the Bank of Jamaica’s (BoJ) finalisation of the terms of reference for Banking Competition Review, and amendment of the BoJ regulations to enable capital relief for portions of small and medium enterprise (SME) loans that have Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ)-guarantee under the latter’s credit enhancement facility programme, where that provision is backed by segregated funds.”

Lee-Chin said all the targets, which had completion timelines of December 2016 and March 2017 as outlined in the EGC’s policy recommendations matrix, were met well ahead of time.

He said that the Government was ahead of schedule on work to review and reduce the Minimum Capital Test for insurance companies, while noting that the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which is undertaking the work, had a March 2017 deadline to review the capital requirements for property and casualty insurance companies, and that they had already reduced it from 250 to 150 per cent.

This, he said, has effectively “freed up $300 million...in available capital that can now flow into the productive sector,” assuring that the EGC will be working “tirelessly” with the Government to ensure the implementation of all their commitments in keeping with the new IMF agreement.

Joe Issa Urges Continued Good Governance for Corporate and National Growth

As 2017 emerges from the twilight of a year he characterized as a landmark in the recovery of the Jamaican economy, member of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce Past President Advisory Committee Joe Issa is urging continued good governance, stating “it pays for your business as well as the country.”

“2016 was a very good year for the economy…all the indicators suggest that while we have much work left to be done, the economy has started to recover.

Chairman of Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency

“You can tell by the big increase in the money supply in December, that confidence had returned, so I am urging companies and institutions to continue exercising good governance in order to sustain the growth we have seen so far last year,” says Issa, executive chairman of Cool Corporation, one of the largest retail conglomerates in Jamaica.

Issa’s views are backed by the major business watchdogs. The Jamaica Manufacture Association has highlighted the downward trend in inflation and exchange rate movements, among others, while the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce acknowledged growth in tourism and Business Process Outsourcing, also among others. Noting that it is cautiously optimistic, the island’s chamber said “we are starting to see growth…increase in the money supply means more confidence in the economy.” 

Said to be no stranger to advocating accountability and integrity in governance Issa once suggested that politicians enter into a pack with the constituents whom they are asking to vote for them. The idea, which became known as ‘The Issa Initiative’ was famously supported by both political parties and the island’s Chambers of Commerce.

Despite not having been implemented Issa’s idea was highly praised by the country’s main newspapers for its landmark quality, with the Gleaner calling it “a watershed in Jamaica's political culture”.

Big on governance, he famously mediated a conflict which had the potential of unsettling the island and its governance structure. The country’s powerful 13 chambers of commerce had threatened to march to parliament if a tax on street lights, which the business community would have had to pay, is not rolled back. Having been chosen to represent the chambers in their dispute with the government, Issa successfully negotiated the rollback of the tax.

Stating that good governance is not only for governments, but importantly, for the business community whose performance is linked to its governance structure, Issa says, “When you exercise good governance, communicating frankly and widely, being accountable and exercising transparency, all else being equal you will succeed, as well as the economy.” And Issa is not alone.

General Manager of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Marlene Street-Forrest has also encouraged local companies to pursue best practices in governance as one means of achieving not only individual corporate growth but also to produce better economic conditions for Jamaica.

In urging firms to embrace the philosophy that good governance is the bedrock of sustainable development and longevity, she said, “Good governance and profitability are the cornerstones of every great company, and we believe that this drives profitability.”

Professor Neville Ying, chairman of the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) Best Practices Committee, also alluded to the connection between governance and success. In explaining the reasoning behind the renaming of the Governance award under the Chairman’s, he says, “The fundamental aim of this renaming was to lift the profile of this award to reflect the growing importance of corporate governance in the sustainable development and success of businesses.”