Financial guru Aubyn Hill yesterday challenged tertiary education heads and instructors to train their charges to the standard where they can compete on the global market.

Hill, chairman of NationGrowth Micro-finance, was addressing the 17th annual conference of the Joint Committee for Tertiary Education at the Mona Visitors' Lodge and Conference Centre at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus, in St Andrew.

Hill, who was the guest speaker at the conference conducted under the theme 'Education for Wealth Creation: Economic Development', said Jamaica should position itself as a place of educational excellence within the region.

"Jamaica must become the education centre of the Caribbean," said Hill. "We must become the best producers and exporters of trained people in the region."

While noting that many people may be concerned about the brain drain in the country, Hill pointed out that Jamaica should train sufficient professionals to supply local demand and for overseas employment.

"Given our relatively young population and the employment of our already trained population, the fit-for-export education product is the way to go for the future," he added.

Hill, who has worked in the Far East, said for three decades remittances to Sri Lanka and India kept increasing as professional residents employed across the globe sent money back home.