Mr. Anthony Gomes, 2006 - 2009

Anthony Gomes has been a Director of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce since 1991, when he was Executive Director of the Neal & Massy Group in Jamaica. During his tenure on the Chamber Board, he has served as 4th, 3rd, and 2nd Vice presidents and Chairman of the International Trade Committee. In his Capacity as Chairman of the Intertrade Committee, he represented the Chamber at five of the seven America’s Business Forums, participating as Vice Chairman of the International working group on Anti-Dumping and Subsidies at Quito, Ecuador in 2002, and Vice Chairman of the International Working Group on Smaller Economies in Miami in November 2003.

In 1997 Mr. Gomes pioneered development of joint consultative meetings with major Jamaican enterprises on international trade issues, culminating in the establishment of the Briefing Room for dissemination of international trade data. As the JCC’s representative on the Jamaica trade and Adjustment Team (JTAT), he participates in trade policy formulation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade that is deliberated on at the Trade Policy Committee of the PSOJ to which the Jamaica Chamber is now linked.

Committed to widening the Chamber’s sphere of influence by strengthening the coalition of Parish Chambers with the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Gomes piloted the changes in the JCC’s Articles of Association to allow the appointment of Parish Chamber Presidents as Directors of the Jamaica Chamber, thereby creating an extended commercial network across Jamaica. Quarterly meetings of all Chamber Presidents, enable both urban and rural interests and issues to be expressed and acted upon. At the same time the Presidents of the JMA, JEA, JHTA and SBAJ were also elevated to the Jamaica Chamber’s Board. Proof of the new private sector assertiveness, was the island Chambers collective intervention at Gordon House that resulted in rescinding the proposed JPS cess.

To heighten the JCC’s domestic and international stature, Mr. Gomes introduced the custom of entertaining visiting Heads of State, an activity he would like to see revived, after the successful social engagements with Flight Lieutenant Gerry Rawlings past President of Ghana, and past President Carlos Menem of Argentina and President Michelle Bacholet of Chile.