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SPEAKING NOTES FOR
PRIME MINISTER
THE MOST HON. P.J. PATTERSON, O.N., QC., P.C., M.P.
AT FUNCTION TO MARK J WRAY & NEPHEW'S
APPLETON JAMAICA RUM MILLION CASE ACHIEVEMENT
TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2003
■ SALUTATIONS
■ I am sure it is not simply personal affinity to the
product we are celebrating today that had brought
out so many of the movers and shakers of industry
and representatives of Government to this event.
■ It is in recognition of the significance of the
achievement by Appleton Rum and J Wray & Nephew
that I am pleased to share in marking this truly
important milestone.
UWI LIBRARIES
• Jamaica is famous for many things - most of them
good.
• Our rum, along with our coffee, our music and our
athletes, to name a few, has established Jamaica as a
world leader in every corner of the globe.
• You do not have to be a connoisseur of spirits to
recognize that the sale of over one million cases of
Appleton Rum per year is a major achievement.
• Today we recognize and celebrate one company's
attainment of a considerable milestone. The
milestone of worldwide sales of one million cases of
Appleton Jamaica Rum, places this brand in an
exalted position in the international spirits industry. It
declares that us in Jamaica can point, yet again, to a
product, uniquely ours, which can match and surpass
anything produced by the competition anywhere in
the world.
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UWI LIBRARIES
• Many significant things happened 1n 1992.
Congratulations to J. Wray and Nephew Ltd. on the
vision and commitment articulated in that year, to
surpass the million sales benchmark for Appleton
Jamaica Rum within a decade.
■ The fulfillment of this commitment, on time and on
target, has been achieved through the time-honoured
combination of product innovation, market expansion
and diversification, consistent supply of inputs,
excellence in production, appropriate technology and
sound financial management.
■ J. Wray and Nephew has seen and seized the
opportunity for successful export growth based on
their own capability and making the most of the
national and international environment in which they
operate. They are an example to those who doubt
our capabilities as a nation, for export-led growth.
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UWI LIBRARIES
■ Appleton Estate and its products are steeped in the
history of Jamaica, and themselves embody the rich
texture, mystery, and cultural diversity of our country.
The company, now within the renowned Lascelles de
Mercado group, reflects the influence of centuries of
entrepreneurship, which has fashioned its character
and guided its affairs from the old copper stills and
cattle-drawn mills to the state-of-the-art laboratories,
blending halls, bottling facilities and sophisticated
marketing apparatus of this millennium.
■ Appleton has not just perfected the distillation of our
heritage and history. They have done so in a manner
which has brought great credit to the company,
tremendous pride to Jamaicans everywhere and
measurable results in respect of Jamaica's economic
and export objectives.
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UWI LIBRARIES
• It is not surprising that as one of the cultural labels
that define this island, Appleton Jamaica Rum is
viewed as part and parcel of our tourism product. It
has played a major role 1n positioning Jamaica
internationally, representing as its does excellence,
longevity, distinction, a pioneering spirit and sheer
good times.
■ Appleton has undoubtedly contributed to the power
and resilience of the JAMAICA brand, which, despite
our challenges, is among the most recognized
anywhere in the world.
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UWI LIBRARIES
■ This government is focused on export-led growth,
given the broad impact of changing international
trade policy.
■ Among the current concerns in the sugar and related
industries include productivity, efficiency, cane
quality, pricing in the international market and the
impending cessation of preferential protocols for
sugar and rum.
■ There is some assistance promised under the
Integrated Development Programme for the
Caribbean Rum Sector declared in the CO TONOU
agreement signed in June 2000.
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UWI LIBRARIES
■ Again, I congratulate Appleton Jamaica Rum and the
J. Wray and Nephew team on their performance and
achievements.
■ Like your rum, may you continue to "Unleash your
Spirit" in fine manufacturing, bold entrepreneurship
and creative international marketing so that in the
shortest possible time, two million cases and more of
this superb Jamaican product will be sold every year.
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UWI LIBRARIES
• The approval of the West Indies Rum and Spirits
Producers Association as the implementing agency
for the programme has been viewed by the private
sector as a positive step towards allowing greater
involvement of the private sector 1n the
implementation of the Cotonou Agreement.
• The Joint Declaration on Rum acknowledged the need
to take all measures necessary to overcome the
competitive disadvantage which ACP rum producers
were facing. The Declaration therefore provided for
the ,EU to give assistance to ACP rum industries in
light .of the impending full liberalization of the EU rum
market on January 1, 2003.
• These and other efforts will help mitigate the
challenges to developing countries presented by the
move to liberalisation of the world trade system under
the WTO.
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UWI LIBRARIES
• Under the Joint Declaration on Rum, now being
implemented through the West Indies Rum and
Spirits Producers Association, the European Union has
committed to providing assistance/grants totaling
seventy million Euros to be used by Caribbean rum
producers in five following areas:
• Enhancing the competitiveness of existing
ACP exporters of rum
• Assistance in developing rum marques
• Assistance in designing and implementing
marketing campaigns
• Assisting ACP rum producers to meet
environmental and waste treatment
standards and, importantly,
• Assistance to the ACP rum industry to move
out of Bulk Commodity Production into
higher value branded products.
• Modernisation and capital investment.
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UWI LIBRARIES
• Notwithstanding, improved efficiency, greater
productivity, enhanced competitiveness and lowered
costs have become the watchwords by which all
enterprises must operate.
■ I am also aware of the considerable initiatives of the
agricultural division of Lascelles deMercardo and
Company which entail substantial investment
programmes to improve productivity of its existing
lands under cultivation. The company's determination
to ensure optimum synchronization of cane, sugar
and spirit production as it moves to further its
objectives for international competitiveness, will
ensure that it continues to meet and exceed global
standards and sales targets for its products.
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UWI LIBRARIES
■ We have to increase both production and productivity
in this sector.
■ The Government recognizes the imperative for placing
the entire sugar industry on a more modern footing.
Even with increased focus on other areas of
productive and export activity, we do not envisage a
future for Jamaica without a sugar industry.
■ However, it must be an industry that is modern,
efficient, internationally competitive and which
emphasizes the value added and the manufacturing
of finished products rather than the traditional
production and export of sugar as a raw material.
■ To achieve this will require the efforts of all in the
sector, Government, the private sector, our farmers
and trade unions. There is no time to delay. The
livelihood of a large section of our population and the
long-term economic future of our country depend on
bold and decisive action in this respect.
UWI LIBRARIES
