Holness: Cutting-edge investment key to GDP growth
Published:Wednesday | January 14, 2026 | 12:10 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness has urged Jamaican manufacturers to capitalise on government policies favouring investors and to step up their role in driving economic growth.
Speaking during yesterday’s opening of Wisynco Group’s new brewery and manufacturing plant at Lakes Pen, St Catherine, Holness said the administration had sharply increased its capital budget over the past decade to drive infrastructure-led growth. He noted that once-thriving manufacturing spaces had declined as investors relocated, creating both opportunities and challenges.
“Let’s expand the investments,” he said. “But not any kind of investment. We want cutting-edge investments because cutting-edge investments incorporate technology and increases your productivity.”
Holness argued that the timing was right for greater private-sector investment, pointing to policies aimed at expansion and modernisation.
“The confidence has been reinforced by deliberate policy choices. In the 2025-26 Budget, we introduce an accelerated capital allowance regime designed to incentivise companies to invest, expand, and modernise your productive capacity by allowing businesses to write off major capital investments more frequently.”
Holness also highlighted Wisynco’s long-standing contribution to national development, noting that the company had grown alongside Jamaica over several decades. He said that for six decades, the Wisynco Group had expanded in tandem with the country, evolving from modest beginnings into one of the most sophisticated, fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing and distribution operations in the region.
“The journey mirrors Jamaica’s own economic transformation from vulnerability and volatility to stability, credibility and opportunity,” Holness noted while amplifying the company’s success.
ANCHORS PRODUCTIVITY
The prime minister underscored the importance of manufacturing to the wider economy beyond job creation. “Manufacturing matters not only because it creates jobs but because it anchors productivity across the economy,” he said.
He described Wisynco’s US$35 million investment in the Devon H. Reynolds Manufacturing Facility – named after the company’s long-serving director of production – as a major boost to the sector.
“This new brewery and manufacturing facility reflects not only private-sector ambition but the cumulative results of years of discipline and national reform,” he said.
Wisynco’s chief executive, officer Andrew Mahfood, said the facility would expand production capacity, strengthen the company’s ability to meet rising demand, and allow greater diversification. He praised the workforce, noting that the investment would create 285 jobs – 85 in direct production and about 200 in sales, distribution, and marketing.
“This new facility represents a major step forward in our manufacturing capability,” Mahfood said. The plant formally positions Wisynco in the brewing category, producing beers, stouts, malts, and ready-to-drink beverages, including Worthy Park mixed rum drinks and Stone Ginger Wine. At the ceremony, the company launched Legend Beer, M-Powa Malt and Mamba Stout. Mahfood said Wisynco was “extremely proud” to introduce these products to the Jamaican market.