The Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce has welcomed news that the government is beginning consultations on extending duty free concessions on Grand Bahama, calling the move potentially "very stimulative" for the local economy.
Last week, the Ministry for Grand Bahama announced on July 18 that in conjunction with the Ministry of Finance, it will host a town hall meeting on "East and West Grand Bahama economic development regulation" on July 25.
The meeting comes after Prime Minister Perry Christie said in his budget communication that duty concessions on building materials for businesses outside of the port area in Grand Bahama would become a reality this fiscal year.
Should the government decide to move ahead with extending the concessions, it would be fulfilling a promise made in its election manifesto, a Charter for Governance, in 2012.
Barry Malcolm, president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, said he was not aware that consultations were beginning, but expressed the view that such an initiative "could work well" for East and West Grand Bahama.
"If it follows the Freeport model, it will apply to goods for the development of businesses, so if I'm buying new machinery and equipment for a plant, that would qualify. That could be very good for Grand Bahama.
"But one would have to see the structure of it to see what it means," said Malcolm.
Malcolm said that duty concessions could be "very stimulative" for the economy and "cause it to grow".
"If you want to expand business activity, it could be very good long term," he added.
Talk of extending duty concessions outside of the port area comes at a time when Guardian Business understands that the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce is galvanizing to determine what it will propose to the government with respect to real property tax and business license fee exemptions that are set to expire in the port area in mid-2015.
Malcolm declined to comment when questioned on this topic yesterday, however Guardian Business understands that a "vision" paper has been drafted which is now being reviewed by chamber stakeholders.

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