Three motor cars made by Excel Motors Island Cruisers in Jamaica were escorted to the Montego Bay Cruise Ship Terminal ahead of the official export ceremony on Friday, for export to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Karl Samuda, has praised Patrick Marzouca, the chief executive officer (CEO) of local firm Excel Motors Island Cruisers, for his firm’s success in manufacturing and exporting motorcars to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Speaking at the export ceremony at the Montego Bay Cruise Ship Terminal on Friday, Samuda congratulated Marzouca and endorsed his resilience and determination, which made the project a success.
“The idea of a car manufacturing project was not a pipe-dream, but a reality and now to see that he has persevered against all the odds; with all these trials and tribulations, he has been able to obtain an order for the production of these vehicles. I want to commend you for your effort, Patrick, and I want to congratulate you for your sense of resilience and your determination to succeed,” Samuda said.
He indicated that the government was totally committed to the manufacturing sector, recognizing that only through expansion of productive activity that the country is going to get out of its economic difficulties.
“Here before us today is an example of someone that has not only had the tenacity and the stick-to-itiveness to pursue against the odds and the difficulty of finding the capital necessary to keep the entire business running, but one who has triumphed,” Samuda said.
He added that, having driven one of the vehicles, it appeared that the integrity of the equipment is without doubt. He, however, encouraged Marzouca to reconsider the branding of the product, and consider using the Jamaica brand which, he said, was critical for a new product.
“I believe that Jamaica has the kind of name and reputation that will assist the product and drive its quality,” Samuda advised.
He assured Marzouca that funding to move his business to a higher level was available through the Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and the ExIm Bank, and made a commitment to assist him to increase profitability.
A former Minister of Development, Dr Paul Robertson, in congratulating Marzouca, said that the vehicles demonstrated ‘some real Jamaican engineering’, and great export potential and prospects for developing and expanding a niche product for Jamaica.
Excel Motors Limited, the only car manufacturing company in Jamaica, was officially launched in 2003, with vehicles boasting fiberglass chassis and 1.5 litre Japanese-made engines.
