PRESIDENT of Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA) Brian Pengelley is encouraging Jamaicans to support locally made products in an effort to boost the country's economic development.

"We have to believe and support our own. Foreign does not mean better... we can make a change by becoming self-sufficient and buying what is made here by Jamaican investors and Jamaican workers," he said.

Pengelley was speaking at a ceremony yesterday where two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed between the Bureau of Standards Jamaica (BSJ) and the Jamaica Manufacturers' Association (JMA); and the BSJ and the Jamaica Business Development Corporation at the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce in Kingston.

Through the MoUs, the BSJ has partnered with the two entities to assist them with implementing standards and/or quality systems within their members.

The JMA president argued that locally made products are of equal quality to those that are imported, as local manufacturers abide by guidelines to ensure high-quality products.

"We are living in very difficult times, but we can all make a difference by one simple action — buy Jamaican! Our manufacturers are governed by stringent quality standards, so you can be assured that the goods produced in Jamaica by our own people are of equal quality to an import," he said.

Turning to another matter, he said the JMA intends to work closely with the BSJ to ensure that imported products are complying with local standards.

"We cannot hold our local manufacturers to certain standards whilst allowing substandard products to enter Jamaica," he said.