JAMAICAN-born billionaire investor Michael Lee Chin aims for 5% annual GDP growth....Lee Chin has an estimated net worth of over US$2.6 billion (JA$315 Billion).

BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com  Thursday, April 28, 2016  

JAMAICAN-born billionaire investor Michael Lee Chin assumed the chairmanship of the Economic Growth Council (EGC) yesterday, with a clarion call for Jamaicans to work with the newly created body to target a five per cent annual growth rate for the next four years.

“As chairman of the EGC, I pledge that the EGC will work tirelessly and passionately to achieve a GDP growth rate of five per cent over the next four years,” Lee Chin told the press launch of the council at Jamaica House.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness (second right) greets the chairman
of his new Economic Growth Council (EGC), Michael Lee Chin (left), during
 yesterday’s press launch of the EGC at Jamaica House. Also pictured
 are Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw (right), and
 newly appointed investment ambassador Nigel Clarke.Photo:
Joseph Wellington

He pointed out that a five per cent annual growth rate over the four-year period would be 10 times more than the country has realised over the last 20 years, and 25 times more that it has seen over the past 25 years.

He recalled that a 5.4 per cent growth in the Jamaican economy in 1969 enabled him to obtain a job at Alpart, which was further nurtured by an 11.9 per cent growth in 1970, which set him off on his journey to financial fulfillment. “So having growth in Jamaica enabled this high school grad to have got a job and become an independent fulfilled citizen. So it is essential for us to focus on growth to make sure that this situation is not unique, but that it is replicated, wholesale, right across the country for every single Jamaican,” Lee Chin said.

He stated that his decision to accept the invitation from Prime Minister Andrew Holness to chair the new body, which he admitted is a major challenge, was because he felt a duty to ensure that “every Jamaican child have the same opportunity for fulfillment” as he has had in Jamaica.

“That’s my reason for doing this,” said the 65-year-old Jamaican business magnate, investor, and philanthropist who is rated among the top 26 richest citizen of Canada, his adopted home, with a networth of over US$2.6 billion.

A native of Portland, Lee Chin is the founder and chairman of Portland Holdings Inc, a privately held investment company which owns a collection of diversified operating companies in sectors that include media, tourism, health care, telecommunications (including CVM Television) and financial services (including Advantage General Insurance) as well as tourist attractions. more