OFFICIAL REMARKS
Kwasi Thompson Minister of State for Finance
Canada-Bahamas Virtual Business Mission
with The High Commission of Canada January 15, 2021
[PROTOCOL]
Good Morning.
I welcome the visiting delegation for this Canada-Bahamas Virtual Business Mission. The Bahamas and Canada have a longstanding tradition of cooperation and trade, which has richly rewarded the citizens and residents of both nations over the years. The Bahamas' most recent participation in CARIBCAN, the Caribbean-Canadian Economic Partnership Agreement is the latest means of formalizing our trade relationship and strengthening the various forms of economic development assistance extended between our borders.
In 2019, The Bahamas exported goods valued at over $19 million Canadian dollars, $17 million of which benefited from duty-free entry under this agreement. It is important to see the value of these exports in terms of the people and livelihoods they represent. They represent workers and families and local businesses that survive and thrive on the backs of our common values, shared interests, and mutual cooperation.
The coronavirus pandemic has thrust the world into some very turbulent times. Both of our countries have demonstrated great resilience even as many of our people have suffered a loss. Therefore, we must draw on our historic trade relationship, which is ripe for investment, as a source of strength and opportunity to emerge from this global crisis.
In the future, we hope to see more collaborations between investors and local businesses. Over the past four years, the Government has been working aggressively to grow and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem through a publicly funded Access Accelerator Small Business Development Center (SBDC). This initiative which provides access to training and various forms of capital funding has had great success. It is helping local businesses that manufacture unique, authentic, local products to scale their operations and meet export standards to better access foreign markets for distribution. To further support our local businesses, the government has committed to provide an additional $50 million per year over the next 5 years, which is particularly aimed at preparing our small business for the global marketplace by helping them to scale up production.
The opportunities in this space are unlimited and our international investors are recognizing such. Notable is the collaboration between Disney Cruise Line, the Eleuthera Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Development Center. The Disney Lighthouse Point project is a $400 million investment project to construct a cruise port and entertainment facility in Eleuthera, at one of the most pristine coastal spots in the entire archipelago. Disney signed an MOU with the Chamber and SBDC to inject $1 million in assistance for the island’s business start-ups. The new Business Hub just had a soft opening a few days ago; it will be staffed with advisors and house a number of resources to support entrepreneurs. These are the types of collaborations that drive high returns for investors and for our communities.
The Government of The Bahamas is also placing a renewed focus on expediting the pipeline for larger scaled investment projects, which contribute significantly to new jobs and spending in the economy. We are doing this by restructuring the foreign-direct investment (FDI) decision-making process so that reviews and approvals for high impact investment applications are delivered faster. The demand today is as strong as ever even as the global economy has been starved by the pandemic.
Investments have continued to flow in The Bahamas. Downtown Nassau is undergoing a massive redevelopment with approximately $1 billion dollars’ worth of projects that will help to revitalize the city centre. The $200 million-plus, Pointe project, is nearing completion in Downtown Nassau. At Prince George’s Wharf, the $250 million Nassau Cruise Port redevelopment is underway. The project recently reached another major milestone with the commencement of its sheet-piling operations, which marks the start of the port’s marine construction.
Other major recent developments include.
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