KINGSTON, JAMAICA: The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) will begin visiting businesses across
the island in July to collect basic information on the number and types of entities in operation for the first
Jamaica Survey of Establishments (JSE).

STATIN’s Deputy Director General Ms. Leesha Delatie-Budair spoke about the survey at the Kiwanis Club
of North St. Andrew’s weekly club meeting on Thursday, June 21, at the Police Officer’s Club, to an
audience full of business owners.

“There is no official count of the number of businesses operating in Jamaica,” said Ms. Delatie-Budair. “The
tax register says one thing. We also have some economists that give different estimates. But, at STATIN,
we don’t speculate, we measure.”

Ms. Delatie-Budair said the JSE will be concentrated in urban and semi-urban areas, but expanded to
specific rural areas based on the amount of economic activity for certain industries. The survey will,
however, be geared towards establishments employing three or more persons on a continuous basis,
excluding those operating in the agricultural, hunting or forestry industries, which are accounted for in a
separate survey.

Some of the data to be captured by the JSE includes the location of businesses, their structure, the gender
and categories of employees, their use of technology and alternative energy, their access to financing and
the challenges faced. The data will be used to inform economic planning, market analysis, investment and
production decisions and benchmarking of economic statistics.

All data collected will be held strictly confidential and used for statistical purposes only. Ms. Delatie-Budair
emphasised that business owners need not worry that their information will be made public or shared with
any other Government entity. The information, she noted, will only be published in an aggregated format,
that is, no one accessing the data will be able to identify any specific establishment.

“We are legally bound to keep the information we collect from any of our surveys confidential,” said Ms.
Delatie-Budair. “Every single employee of STATIN signs an agreement. So we are both corporately and
individually liable if we breach that protocol.” She also mentioned that STATIN’s system is routinely
evaluated by the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations and any breach of data would
damage the institute’s credibility in the international community.

STATIN’s interviewers will present their identification cards and an introductory letter to each business
before conducting the survey, which should take approximately 20 minutes as the responses are entered
on tablets.

The JSE, which ends in October, is funded by the Government of Jamaica’s Foundations for
Competitiveness and Growth Project (FCGP), which is coordinated by the Planning Institute of Jamaica.
The FCGP is aimed at strengthening Jamaica’s business environment for private sector investment.