H.E. Mr. Jason Keats Hall,
High Commissioner of Jamaica to India

By His Excellency Jason Keats Hall

High Commissioner of Jamaica to India

WGF: Please list your achievements.

H.E. Hall: My greatest achievements have been collective efforts as a member of a team. Between 2005 and 2009, I was a member of the Trade & Investment Promotion Team at JAMPRO that was responsible for the highest levels of Foreign Direct Investment to Jamaica (approx. US$ 4.15 Billion) across multiple sectors. For more information on JAMPRO, please visit https://dobusinessjamaica.com.

From 2009 to 2016, I was a part of the Senior Executive of the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), responsible for its overall strategic direction, attracting record-breaking arrivals to the destination year-on-year, while earning multiple world travel awards and accolades including ‘Best Tourism Board’, ‘Leading Tourist Destination’, ‘Best Cruise Destination’, ‘Best Honeymoon Destination’ to list but a few.

Spanning both careers at JAMPRO and JTB, I was conceptualizer and project leader for Jamaica House, a multi-tiered marketing initiative designed to leverage the superlative performances of our athletes at international competitions to promote awareness of destination and business brand Jamaica, engaging travel trade, investors and Jamaican diaspora during IAAF World Championships (Berlin 2009, Moscow 2013, Beijing 2015) and the Olympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016). These initiatives generated over US$ 50 Million in combined PR equivalency, in addition to facilitating increases in airlift capacity to the island from Northern & Western Europe, China and South America, ultimately contributing to increased tourist arrivals and increased foreign direct investment.

In 2014, I devised and implemented Jamaica’s Sport Tourism Strategy geared at positioning the island as a leading sport tourism destination in the region.

Recently, in 2020, I was awarded the Order Jose de Marcoleta in the rank of Grand Cross, the highest award for achievements in the sphere of diplomacy and international relations for the promotion of ties between Jamaica and Nicaragua.

I was also a top-10 nationally ranked player and national representative in squash.

Most importantly, I am the proud father of twin sons, born on what was my birthday, 10 years ago; gifts that keep on giving from my dear wife.

WGF: What specifically have you done towards nation building?

H.E. Hall: I have contributed to the economic growth and development of Jamaica through the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) across multiple sectors, leading to job creation and employment. Additionally, I have worked to promote and develop linkage mechanisms between sectors to minimize revenue leakage and maximize retention of foreign exchange earnings.

I have also assisted in crafting and implementing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda for Supreme Ventures Ltd., the primary national lottery provider and one of Jamaica’s largest companies in revenue terms, enabling the development and strengthening of our national capacity and outreach in Culture, Healthcare, Arts, Sport and Education.

WGF: What is your vision of a new Jamaica?

H.E. Hall: I envisage Jamaica achieving its Vision 2030 Development Goals for growth and sustainability, generating positive and sustainable economic growth, creating a stable and inclusive economy, whilst ensuring optimized universal healthcare, security and education for all of its citizens. Prioritizing higher forms of capital (human, knowledge, cultural and institutional). Making Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.

WGF: Describe yourself as a person.

H.E. Hall: I am an eternal student committed to life-long learning and service to others while striving to ensure the sustainability of the planet in an environment of peace, love and respect for all beings. I am a citizen of the world fluent in multiple cultures with a passion for sharing and mentoring.

WGF: What is your inspiration in life?

H.E. Hall: My greatest inspiration is my family; my father who showed me the world and shared with me values of kindness and respect; my Mother who taught me restraint and hard work, my sisters who taught me about caring for others and to be scientifically curious; my wife who teaches me to be humble, fair and impeccable with my word; my sons who remind of the energy, and the realm of infinite possibility of childhood.

Through them I am inspired to constantly learn new things about myself, about others, about the world and the multi-verse we exist in, all while striving to bring out the best version of myself and others. I live in constant awe of the power of the mind.

As a father, I am compelled to impart this approach along with love and respect of and for life to my children, so that they may continue the legacy of service and stewardship left for me by my father.

WGF: What is your success story?

H.E. Hall: Starting out in Jamaica, I have been blessed with the gift of travel, all over the world from a very young age. I have witnessed first-hand both the struggles of people in lesser developed countries, the inequity they face and the innovation that they draw on to survive and at times even thrive; as well as magnificence and ingenuity of humankind.

This has equipped me with a global view and universal appreciation of different cultures and viewpoints. My success has been being able to take these experiences to become an adept communicator and to craft a personal outlook of eternal gratitude and optimism, and an abundance of generosity irrespective of the physical or mental challenges that I have faced.

Jamaica has taught me that no matter how small you are or how great the challenges you face, you can always make a big impact.

WGF: Please share some challenges you have faced in life.

H.E. Hall: My early challenges centered on bridging language and cultural divides as a foreigner growing up in the Brazilian Amazon, Mozambique, Swaziland, Sierra Leone, and latterly the US and the UK, facing and overcoming various types of racism and prejudice to prove myself not only as equal but as one with a positive contribution to make. Constantly moving from one place to another made for having many acquaintances but few friends, socialization was difficult, I constantly felt like a misfit of sorts and was initially a very lonely, forlorn boy. But once I reached my 3rd year of High School I found my stride.

I was schooled in the Kingdom of Swaziland (now eSwatini) attending the United World College of Southern Africa, where I witnessed the discrimination and atrocity of Apartheid in neighboring South Africa, and although small in the grand scheme of that struggle, I found voice to join with others to speak out against the injustice, joining Amnesty International and even participating in small student protests. It was Bob Marley who sang; “Get up, stand up; stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up; don’t give up the fight!” He also sang; “One Love, One Heart; Let’s get together and feel alright”. These are lyrics that I live by.

As an athlete competing at high level in track & field and squash, I also faced many challenges inside and outside the sporting arena due primarily to multiple injuries. I was able to focus on the path ahead and train to recover from these but eventually suffered irreparable and excruciating damage to my hips resulting in me being on crutches for two years and subsequently replacing both joints. In spite of this, I continue to play sports today, mostly tennis, albeit at a much lower level but no less competitive.

WGF: What reforms do you think must be brought into your field of work?

H.E. Hall: My work exists in complex, ever-changing geo-political times and settings with multiple challenges and priorities, all occurring at an ever-increasing pace. I would say there aren’t any reforms required per se, but like most fields there is always a need for a certain level of adaptability to change, leveraging technological advances in communication, as well as innovation in dialogue, negotiation and compromise.

WGF: What reforms would make Jamaica better?

H.E. Hall: Jamaica is on the right track toward economic growth and security as well as sustainability. The past 10 to 15 years have seen significant gains in multiple key sectors, especially in our reduction in debt to GDP ratio. In our Vision 2030, the Government has carefully constructed 31 sector plans covering everything from gender, to tourism, agriculture, education, sport, culture and social security to list but a few. The reforms entailed are comprehensive and responsive with a long-term strategic view to making Jamaica better. Additionally, we are now embarking on a major transition, moving from a constitutional monarchy to a republic by 2025, and this will see a host of constitutional reforms. Other reforms required are no different from any other country in the world in terms of modernization and coping with the new realities we all face. In the collective outlook of our people; we need to be continually cognizant of the sacrifices and progress made throughout our history, further emancipating ourselves from the mentality of scarcity and individual gain, striving to educate and create the best versions of ourselves, to share and propagate goodwill, right action, love and respect in our society.

WGF: What message would you like to give to people in general as a nation builder?

H.E. Hall: Service to others is the natural order of life on our planet; “trees do not consume their own fruit, nor rivers drink their own water”. We all exist to improve on what is, to strive for the betterment of all beings. We do not commit to academic excellence just to put a diploma on a wall; instead, whether we are a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, or a teacher, we strive to learn and master a craft to be able to help others. We are all connected in some way or another. We all have a role to play and a positive contribution to make. Everything is simultaneously a whole unto itself and part of a greater whole; the universe is all about agency and communion. No one thing is one thing only; everything is everything. ONE LOVE.