Bahamas Hailed As Business Model:
By Tameka Lundy -
Nassau, Bahamas:

The investor friendly policies of the Government of The Bahamas have drawn another high profile endorsement, with the Director General of the Commonwealth Business Council Dr. Mohan Kaul actually hailing this country as a model for the Commonwealth.

Dr. Kaul was referring to the findings contained in the 2007 CBC Business Environment Survey. The results will soon be released.

The survey listed the most improved factors as business enablers and policy frameworks.

"The Bahamas is a fine example of how the government can make a positive impact on economy by introducing policies that are investor friendly," said Dr. Kaul.

"We appreciate the work done so far and are glad to say that the economy will go from strength to strength. Bahamas is an example to be emulated by other Commonwealth countries."

The endorsement follows a recent outlook upgrade by Standard and Poor’s of its evaluation of the Bahamian economy. Analysts were particularly pleased with the healthy levels of foreign direct investments.

The former Progressive Liberal Party administration intentionally embarked on a crusade to attract foreign investors to develop mega resort projects around The Bahamas as a means of bolstering the economy. Almost immediately after it was elected to office in 2002, the Christie-led administration created the Ministry of Financial Services and Investments to drive its vision.

The CBC’s director general is scheduled to meet this week with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Brent Symonette to exchange business ideas and brief him about the biennial Commonwealth Business Forum slated to be held simultaneously with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting [CHOGM] in Kampala in November.

Dr. Kaul, who is jockeying for the position of Secretary General of the Commonwealth, is currently on a Caribbean tour and is meeting Heads of Government to discuss economic ideas and challenges.

Respondents to the 2007 survey included big and small companies, who were said to have expressed keen satisfaction with the government’s new policies that have provided concessions to foreign investors.

There were 1387 companies surveyed in 2007, compared to 1136 in 2005.

These introductions have led to more business and job creation and more foreign direct investment, the CBC reported, noting that the outlook is considered better than in previous years.

"A very high number of economic indicators of the survey ranked better than the 2005 survey," noted the council.

"In two years, the government has done a brilliant job of bettering policies and making the investment climate more conducive for business."

Nonetheless, the CBC said the areas which need some focus are free media, efficient administration, effective government, stable financial framework and business friendly tax policies.

Respondents were of the opinion that public administration could be a bit more transparent and, like many other countries in the Commonwealth, The Bahamas also is facing a gap between labour market requirements and the provision of education.

Although the companies who evaluated the business environment in The Bahamas ranked the human resource policy and competition higher in 2007 than in 2005, they acknowledged that it could be improved even more.

The point was made that competition policy is much improved, but there were perceptions that some sectors are protected from competition by the authorities and that unregulated government monopolies were stifling competition.

Overall, the survey conceded that the business environment in The Bahamas has been strengthening and the changes made, particularly on business enablers and policy frameworks, are positively impacting economic growth.

Apart from releasing the results of the survey, the CBC has also made recommendations of its own to create a more favourable environment for business.

Among the recommendations are the enhancement of the efficiency and transparency in government, public administration and the justice system; streamlining business regulation, competition policy and the taxation system and improving education and technical training.

In addition, the CBC suggested the development of further infrastructure and the provision of sufficient funding to the new Department of Environmental Protection and improving government business relations including better consultation mechanisms.

The council listed as one of The Bahamas’ best practices the ‘Train Bahamas Workforce Promotional Programme’ implemented in 2006. It was designed to provide skilled labour for large-scale projects and entrepreneurs to take advantage of new developments.

The training involved apprenticeship programmes and technical/vocational programmes which are currently in demand by businesses.

20 August 2007