Hall: Ja’s logistics vehicle moving but not self-driving
Published:Friday | August 1, 2025 | 8:56 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Jeffrey Hall, vice-chairman and CEO of Pan Jamaica Group, is urging Caribbean nations to embrace trade liberalisation, green energy, and institutional reform or risk missing out on major economic opportunities – despite significant progress and investment.
Speaking at the just-concluded Caribbean Investment Forum in Montego Bay, St James, Hall said: “We in Jamaica find ourselves sitting in the cabin of a big, noisy, physical logistics vehicle. It is moving forward, so I don’t think it’s fair to say that we are stuck. But the thing about this vehicle is it’s not self-driving.”
Delivering the keynote address, Hall dismissed the notion that Jamaica is lagging in logistics.
“Jamaica’s logistics business is substantial. Kingston is a global asset worth billions and billions of dollars,” he said, highlighting the capital’s fuel terminals, container docks, and other port infrastructure. He noted that no other Caribbean port has this entire package in one location.
Over the past decade, Hall noted, more than US$500 million in private investment has flowed into the sector. As a result, container transshipment volumes at Kingston are up 50 per cent compared to pre-COVID levels.
“We’re running neck and neck with the Dominican Republic in a race for the number-one position in the Caribbean islands,” he said. “There’s a real risk that the vehicle can stall out or crash, but equally, there’s a very real chance that Jamaica can find a way to put the vehicle into gear and move forward very quickly.”
Hall identified three key “gears” needed to shift Jamaica’s logistics vehicle into high gear: trade facilitation and port efficiency, green energy and emissions compliance, and modern trade policy and tariff reform.
While Jamaica has made strides, Hall acknowledged that the country’s rankings on global indices like the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index and Container Port Performance Index remain in the lower tiers. To improve, he stressed the need to expand both major ports and fully digitise customs and shipping processes.
“We have to deliver on the vision for port expansion in both ports, and we have to execute on digital transformation for which work is in progress.” he said.
He also positioned decarbonisation not as a regulatory burden but as a competitive advantage.
“If we reduce our energy use, we can reduce costs. Consumers globally, particularly European consumers, insist on decarbonisation for the products they buy,” noting that emissions charges are now a reality, citing frameworks like the EU’s Emissions Trading System and the IMO’s maritime regulations.
Hall pointed to Kingston’s LNG infrastructure – cutting emissions by 25 per cent – as an example of future-ready investment.
“The bigger the ship, the lower the carbon footprint. The bigger the port, the more degrees of freedom for supporting additional fuel sources,” he said.
Hall also warned against protectionist instincts in response to trade deficits.
“There’s a temptation to see recent developments in global trade as permission to put up trade barriers. I think this would be a misunderstanding of what we need right now,” he said.
Instead, Hall urged the region to embrace its strength in services and logistics, not cling to outdated goods-based models.