Presentation 3

Topic: Changing New Demands , The Evolving Experience of Jamaica’s Public Sector

Jamaica as a small island developing state (UN) is the 3rd largest island in the Caribbean. Since its independence in 1962 the country’s governance practices have evolved in both the public and private sector. This evolution has been driven primarily by enhanced business practices, changed investor demands and heighted corporate governance requirements globally for the private sector and the introduction of new legislations and regulations in a dynamic economic and social environment for the public sector. Underlying these initiatives have been the increased level of corruption both globally and locally which has investors and citizens demanding greater levels of accountability and transparency in all operations.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) along with the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) have been the main drivers developing and codifying corporate governance practices in the private sector while the public sector efforts have been led by the Ministry of Finance & Public Service. This presentation will therefore seek to engage participants in the changing and emerging corporate governance practices in the Jamaican public sector. The session will examine at a high level what were some of the demands that have, and continue to drive corporate governance changes in the Jamaican public sector while taking into consideration the responsibility of the primary players. To further enhance participants knowledge a review will be done identifying the enabling legal and regulatory environment and how, if any, this governance framework has contributed to the current corporate governance practices in the public sector.

The session will conclude by looking at the current corporate governance challenges that still face the full implementation of corporate governance in the public sector and recent initiatives and partnerships introduced to strengthen its support. This presentation will assist participants in reviewing their country’s public sector corporate governance journey and will provide some key lessons learnt for consideration when implementing governance practices and regulations in small islands.