Usain BoltJamaica hopes that it will be more than just Usain Bolt who strikes gold at London 2012 by launching a special programme which it thinks will boost trade between the Caribbean island and Britain in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics.

Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) have partnered on the scheme - called Meet Jamaica in London 2012 - aimed at increasing the trade of Jamaican goods and services in the UK and wider European markets.

The new initiative, which has the backing of Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, will feature a promotional programme of investment and trade missions, as well as consumer-oriented events that organisers hope will connect Jamaica and the UK.

The missions and events are scheduled to take place in London - home to the largest concentration of members of the Jamaican Disapora in the world - Coventry and Birmingham, the host city for the Jamaican Olympic team in the run-up to 2012.

Together, the three cities are home to over 65 per cent of the Caribbean Diaspora in the UK.

Six Jamaican firms either have bases in the UK or do substantial business in that country - the mobile-service providers, LIME and Digicel; the coffee producers, Jablum; the beer company, Red Stripe; the bakers, National Continental; the financial services group, Jamaica National Building Society.

Jamaica's athletes are among the best known in the world, particularly since Bolt's record-breaking runs in the 100 and 200 metres at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and last year's World Championships in Berlin.

Jamaican politicians have since then talked about translating the strong sporting brand to other enterprises, which is the basis of this project.

London offers a nostalgic platform from which to launch the venture - the island's 50th anniversary of independence from Britain and the city where Arthur Wint won the 400m at the 1948 Olympics to herald Jamaica's beginning as a global athletic power.

"We interpret this event of 2012 as a game changer," said Karl Samuda, Jamaica's Commerce and Investment Minister.

"This is the time for Jamaica to unleash all that we have been talking about all these years."Earl Jarrett , the chairman of the PSOJ Trade Policy Committee at a press conference.

Jancia Bennett Templer, the President of JAMPRO, said: "The main objective of this national promotion is to leverage Brand Jamaica against the background of the country's participation in the Olympic Games in 2012."

Among the proposals are a Jamaican theme park that will be established in Birmingham, where Bolt and his team-mates will be based before heading to London for the Games.

"The international attention focused on Jamaica because of the outstanding performances of our sportsmen and sportswomen at the Beijing Olympics provides us with the captive audience which will be yearning to eat, drink and wear anything Jamaican," said Joseph Matalon, President of the PSOJ.

He said: "The Olympics 2012 presents a great nexus between sports, culture, business and our great Jamaican brands."

Companies with strategic interests in the UK and European markets have committed to work with JAMPRO, the PSOJ, the Jamaica Tourist Board, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, and the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA), to achieve the objectives of the Meet Jamaica in London 2012 initiative.

The launch event also included a video documentary in which JAAA President, Howard Aris, explored the country's Olympic achievements from London in 1948 through to the Beijing Games, with a look ahead to London 2012.

"All of us at the JAAA are committed to rally behind Brand Jamaica in all its forms, as we invite the rest of the world to meet Jamaica in London," said Aris.

Sports Minister Olivia Grange has endorsed the promotion in a video message.

"In 2012, Jamaica will also celebrate 50 years of independence," she said.

"And we intend to paint Kingston, London and the rest of the world in black, green and gold, as we showcase our culture and heritage and invite the world to the Great Jamaican homecoming."