Minister of State for Investments Khaalis Rolle has given his diagnosis: Private sector growth and development is the key, he said, to jumpstarting the Bahamian economy.
Speaking to business leaders during the recent National Conclave of Chambers of Commerce in The Bahamas at Melia Nassau Beach resort, Rolle said the path to private sector growth and development is the improvement of the business environment, which requires improvements in labor quality and concerted bureaucratic reform.
The National Development Plan - Vision Bahamas 2040 is important to this process, he said, in that it would help create a proper understanding of the real issues at play and help develop effective, targeted strategies that could be implemented effectively.
Rolle noted that the labor force is just under 198,000. Of that number, 169,000 are employed and 29,000 are unemployed (a rate of 14.3 percent). Given the 5,000 new entrants to the workforce annually from schools and that government employment is just under 19,000 (9.6 percent), Rolle said there is a limited capacity to absorb a greater proportion of the labor force.
He said 90.4 percent of the labor force works in the private sector and therefore future job growth depends on the success of the private sector.

Supply of quality labor
The minister also addressed the supply of quality labor.
From the public sector, he said, educational outcomes must be improved and labor market regulation must be balanced to ensure productivity, protection and fairness. From a social policy perspective, the focus must be on creating an environment for the future labor force to learn and to be productive.
He said the private sector must concentrate its efforts on increased in-house training and increased corporate social responsibility, and the family unit must see a cultural shift to a greater value placed on education and life-long learning and productivity.

Challenges doing business
The minister also gave a survey of some of the ways in which The Bahamas, as a jurisdiction for doing business, continues to slide.
For instance, when it comes to starting a business, Rolle noted a continued decline in the rankings, now at #95 in 2015 from #88 in 2014. Since 2008, he said, there has been no change in the procedures. Starting a business still requires seven steps. On a positive note, he reported that the time to start a business has improved from one month to just over three weeks. However, there has been no real change in cost from 2008.
"The Bahamas has not deteriorated from 2008, but has not made significant improvements. Other countries have made those improvements, which has resulted in The Bahamas' decline in ranking," Rolle said. "Improvements in this indicator are on the near horizon with the automation of certain RGD (Registrar General's Department) processes."
Another critical challenge is dealing with construction permits.
The Bahamas declined in ranking to #92 in 2015 from #88 in 2014.
Again, Rolle noted, there has been no change in number of the procedures (still at 14) or the time to complete the transaction (still at 178 days). However, the cost to complete the transaction has increased slightly, and the minister cited a small deterioration in the overall effectiveness of the process as indicated by the distance to the frontier (DTF) score.
Rolle said there is a need to evaluate processes to see what can be done better and what procedures are unnecessary, pointing out that - again - The Bahamas is losing ground to other countries which are making strides in this area.
When it comes to getting electricity, again, The Bahamas has lost ranking to other countries doing what needs to be done. Since last year, there has been no change in process or time improvements (over 60 days).
"The time frame for the preliminary processes to get electricity needs to be shortened and there needs to be stronger coordination with the Ministry of Works and BEC (Bahamas Electricity Corporation)," he said.
"We need to examine the process and resource requirements to make the improvements."
On registering property, The Bahamas ranked very low at #179.
As Rolle noted, that is a "very far distance to what the top countries are doing".
Again, there has been no change in procedures, time or cost (122 days), although Rolle forecast improvements coming with certain RGD automations.
"Improvements in this indicator will come from improvements in the title/cadastral systems and the recording process at the RGD," he said. "[There must be] targeted effort to reduce the 120 days it takes to register property in The Bahamas.

Overall doing business priorities
Rolle said there must be priority given to reform of processes dealing with registering property (#179), dealing with construction permits (#92), trading across borders (#63) and getting electricity (#50).
He cited the need for continued process improvements in paying taxes (#31) and the need for both process and legislative reform in enforcement of contracts (#125).
As for protecting minority investors (#141) and resolving insolvency (#60), Rolle said there needs to be legislative reform.
For getting credit (#131), he said, institutional reform is necessary.

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