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.