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Table 1 SWOT matrix of medicinal cannabis market and foreign investment strategy in Jamaica

From: Foreign investment in emerging legal medicinal cannabis markets: the Jamaica case study

Strengths

Weaknesses

- Jamaica’s cultural reputation

- Genetic diversity of cannabis strains adapted to the local climate

- Indigenous knowledge of cannabis cultivation

- Underfunded research and development (R&D) infrastructure

- Lack of access to loans for domestic investors (due to banking arrangements with the US banks)

- High cost of energy and security expenses

Opportunities

Threats

- Inflow of economic capital

- Access to export markets

- New legal employment sectors

- Professionalisation of local sector via transfer of know-how and technology

- Risks of political interference

- Social justice objectives of the reform (i.e., transitioning of illegal farmers to the legal sector) not prioritised

- Pressure on local operators to adopt technologies considered unnecessary to Jamaican context

- Investment focused only on the efficiency of production, lack of investment in research and development (R&D)