Hon. Phillip Paulwell is Member of Parliament for East Kingston and Port Royal and appointed as Minister of Commerce, Science and Technology in October 2002.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Paulwell served as Minister of Industry, Commerce and Technology and prior to that, as Minister of State in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce.

His major achievements include the liberalization of Jamaica's telecommunications sector and the promotion of information technology as the engine of growth and sustainable development.

He became the recipient of the year 2000 Gleaner Honour Award for implementing historic measures to break the 25-year telecommunications monopoly and introduce competition in the telecommunications sector. The liberalization of the sector has so far resulted in significant investments in wireless telephony and the generation of tremendous opportunities in the Information technology and telecommunications sectors.

Among the other major achievements of the Minister are:

• Increased consumer advocacy and protection

• The liberalization of the motor vehicle trade and the introduction of a used car policy

• Promotion of CARICOM trade

• Attraction of increased Foreign Direct Investments

• Enhanced information technology training and

• The continued building of a national information infrastructure

The Minister has represented Jamaica at a number of international fora and is a past President of the Caribbean Telecommunication Union as well the out-going Chairman of the Special Committee on Science, Technology, Health, Education and Culture of the Association of Caribbean States. He also served as the Chairman of the Caribbean Ministerial Council on Intellectual Property. In 1999, he was awarded the silver medal from the Caribbean Telecommunication Union for his pioneering role in the liberalization of telecommunications in the Caribbean Region.

Mr. Paulwell's distinguished public service career began over ten years ago, upon graduation from the University of the West Indies with an Honours Law Degree and a Certificate in Legal Education in 1987. He was called to the Bar that same year and subsequently appointed Legal Officer of the Jamaica Commodity Trading Company Limited in 1988 where he served for the next three years.

In 1991, he was appointed Managing Director/Trade Administrator of the Trade Board. He then had the distinction of being the youngest person to be appointed Chief Executive Officer of a public sector agency in Jamaica.

In 1993, Mr. Paulwell had the honour of being the first Executive Director of the newly established Fair Trading Commission, a body whose mandate and legal authority he was instrumental in formulating.

The Minister's vision is the creation of knowledge-based society in which all
Jamaicans are stakeholders and beneficiaries.