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Good practice Imported

Export Max — JAMPRO's Multi-Phase Export-Growth Programme for Jamaican SMEs

Jamaica · Kingston · See the Jamaica profile · See the Kingston profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 63% 62/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

JAMPRO's Export Max programme grew 20 Jamaican SMEs' export sales by an average 213% and created 173 jobs in its second phase (to 2017), then scaled to 50-plus firms per cohort with private co-investment from Carbyne Capital.

213%
Export sales growth, Export Max II cohort (to 2017)
173
New jobs created, Export Max II cohort (to 2017)
US$1.7 billion
Export earnings, Export Max II cohort (to 2017)
US$703 million
New investment, Export Max II cohort (to 2017)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO), with JMEA and JBDC
Period
2011–ongoing
Keywords
export promotion, SME growth, trade facilitation, investment

Context

Export Max is JAMPRO's flagship export-capacity-building programme for growth-stage Jamaican exporters, run jointly with the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC). It has run in successive cohort phases since 2011: Export Max I (2011–2013, 15 companies, reported 33% average export growth), Export Max II (culminating 2017, 20 companies), Export Max III (scaled from 2019, roughly 50 companies), and Export Max IV (2024, 57 companies).

Results

Jamaica's official Jamaica Information Service reported that Export Max II's 20 participating companies achieved an average export-sales growth of 213%, created 173 new jobs (a 13% increase across the cohort), generated US$1.7 billion in export earnings and US$703 million in new investment, and that all 20 firms secured at least one new external market in the Caribbean, United States, Canada or United Kingdom. In 2021, Export Max III received a US$1 million investment from Carbyne Capital Investments Ltd to expand capacity for around 50 companies, with a stated goal of moving more than 40 Jamaican firms into new international markets.

Conclusions

JAMPRO's broader investment-promotion work has drawn separate criticism from the labour-rights outlet Equal Times over under-informing some BPO investors about Jamaica's labour laws — a critique of JAMPRO's wider FDI-attraction function rather than of Export Max specifically, but relevant context for assessing the agency's overall practice.

Implementation

Indicative cost
Medium (€50k–€500k)
Time to results
Long (> 3 years)
Staffing & skills
JAMPRO programme staff, Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA), Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC), Carbyne Capital Investments Ltd (private co-investor from phase III)

Conditions for success

  • multi-agency delivery combining trade promotion, manufacturer association and business development expertise
  • phased cohort growth (15 to 57 companies) allowing capacity to scale gradually
  • private co-investment (US$1 million from Carbyne Capital) to expand delivery capacity

Common failure modes

  • results are self-reported via government press releases with no independent audit or comparison group
  • JAMPRO's wider FDI-attraction work has drawn separate criticism over labour-law transparency with investors

Where it fits

Governance type
national export-promotion agency, multi-partner delivery
Scale
cohort-based, national
Income level
upper-middle-income

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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