In addition, the island possesses abundant supplies of limestone, marble, gypsum, and clays. To turn around Jamaica's slow growth of the past four years, the Minister of Mining and Energy, Robert Pickersgill, is working closely with the country's bauxite corporations. The minister believes that the sector could be the engine to propel economic growth throughout the country. The Jamaica Bauxite Institute has launched a series of programs to improve the technical aspects of production and marketing, it's aim is to directly increase competitiveness and the productivity of both capital and labor. The bauxite companies want to expand, but if they do not create an attractive climate, those investment possibilities will pass them by.
Foreign investors are already very much present in the mining sector of Jamaica.
In 1997, Jamaica exported 3.4 million tons of alumina along with 3.6 million tons of bauxite. In the coming year, Aljam and Alpart Jamaica are expected to increase their production by an additional 150,000 tons of alumina, thus placing greater emphasis on the local processing of bauxite. Here they are trying to modernize and expand to compete on a world level, as the industry is very important to the economy, it will take investment to keep it above the world average. Last year, total bauxite production was just under 12 million tons, a nearly two decade high, and the mining industry itself was one of three sectors to post growth figures. But efforts to expand bauxite operations have been hampered in recent years by conflicts between producers and the nation's labor unions.