Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Economy (November
17, 2004)
Lee Chin bats for Ja as investment destination
Michael Lee Chin, whose acquisition of the
Jamaican government's 76 per cent shares in NCB three years ago has earned him
billions of dollars in unrealised profit, made a case for investing in Jamaica
at a function in New York last week.
Lee Chin encouraged entrepreneurs attending
the annual fundraiser of the American Friends of Jamaica at the Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel to look at Jamaica as an investment location.
His experience with NCB where he is now chairman,
was positive, he said. "My
experience from the standpoint of NCB has been very rewarding," said Lee
Chin. "The experience has led me to be not just optimistic about Jamaica's
prospects, but also to consider additional opportunities and to encourage others
to do the same."
In fact, since his acquisition of the bank,
Lee Chin has held true to his promise of pumping profits from the bank back into
the Jamaican economy. He has since spent billions of dollars primarily on quoted
portfolio investments, and real estate.
Last week Lee Chin, who owns AIC Limited, one of
Canada's largest privately held funds management companies, was honoured at the
black-tie event in New York for his support for Jamaican charities.
Lee Chin, who has in place, a programme for
NCB to donate potentially hundreds of millions of dollars to education each
year, stressed the importance of government and private sector helping to make
education available and affordable to all.
"Jamaica has been blessed with huge human
and natural resources, which must be used in the service of our country's
development," said the entrepreneur. "We are blessed with talented
young people who, if given a chance, if given opportunities for success, will
definitely take advantage of these opportunities and become productive citizens.
This is a challenge that we must meet as a country."
Lee Chin, who was born in Portland, emigrated
to Canada in the late 1960s and studied engineering. A self-made billionaire, he
has contributed millions of dollars primarily to educational and cultural
charities in Canada, where he made his fortune.
Since returning to Jamaica as an investor, he has
publicly championed the cause of education, and had made it the mantra of his
institution.
In his address, he pointed to the crucial role
that education and training would play in Jamaica's economic development in the
current dynamic and increasingly globalised environment.
Furthermore, he promised that NCB would continue
to work with the Jamaican government and the private sector to ensure the
creation of additional scholarships for deserving Jamaican students and to
assist in the overall thrust towards the modernisation of education in the
island.
At the function, Jamaica's finance minister Dr
Omar Davies, who was a special guest, praised the organisers for their continued
support of projects and institutions in Jamaica. According to JIS News these
include the Jamaica Society for the Blind, the Mona Rehabilitation Foundation,
the University of the West Indies and the Montego Bay Hope Medical Centre.
Davies also lauded Lee Chin for his commitment to
the island, noting that his acquisition of NCB was demonstrative of a
"confidence in the Jamaican economy and in Jamaica as a location where
investors can indeed make money and have their companies benefit."
AFJ president and former United States
ambassador to Jamaica Glen Holden also thanked Lee Chin for his continued
support of the work of the AFJ and paid tribute to the many American and
Jamaican firms that have contributed over the years to the success of the
organisation's philanthropic activities.
Among other guests at the fundraiser were
Jamaica's ambassador to the United States Professor Gordon Shirley; United
States ambassador to Jamaica Sue Cobb; Gleaner chairman Oliver Clarke, and chief
executive officer of Island Grill Thylia Lyn.
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