Delegates Hail Diaspora Conference a success – Johnson Survey

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Delegates who attended the recently concluded Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference, held in Kingston July 24-27, have declared the event a great success, according to a survey conducted by the Johnson Survey Research Limited.

The post conference survey, which interviewed some 240 participants from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States of America and other countries, found that 93 per cent of the delegates thought the Conference was worthwhile for them to attend; and 95 per cent said they would recommend a friend or business associate to attend the next conference.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that 86 per cent of the 2017 delegates are hoping to attend the next conference, as against seven per cent who said they probably would not attend.

The survey established that the conference instilled a great sense of optimism about Jamaica in the participants; as 82 per cent said they thought that, “things in Jamaica are going in the right direction.”

Education in Jamaica, according to the survey, topped the list of five areas which delegates indicated they were most interested in. That subject was followed by youth development; youth entrepreneurship; business, trade and investment opportunities, with citizens security ranking at number five.

Some 52 per cent of respondents revealed that a major reason they attended this year’s conference was to explore business opportunities. Another 26 per cent said looking for business opportunities was their reason, however, it was not the most important one, for attending the conference.

Approximately 38 per cent of conference participants decided to attend this year’s conference to help to “better Jamaica”; 32 per cent attended to learn; and 26 per cent said they wanted to use the opportunity to network.

The Jamaica 55 Diaspora 2017 Conference, held bi-annually, was organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, in collaboration with public and private sector companies and organisations; and was themed “Partnering for Growth.”