The Bahamas could be missing out on millions of dollars in profits from the construction industry by not exporting local talent throughout the region, according to an industry executive. Leonard Sands, vice-president of the Bahamian Contractors Association (BCA), told Guardian Business that The Bahamas has yet to take advantage of export opportunities that exist within the region. "In The Bahamas many people come here with their talents, skills and trade and do work here. What we have not been doing is taking advantage of similar opportunities of exporting our talents to neighboring countries.
I believe that The Bahamas has not gone after those opportunities," said Sands. Sands' comments come after executives of the BCCEC led a delegation of 20 business professionals on a recent trade mission to Haiti where it was discovered that construction and agriculture were the top two areas being explored as potential business opportunities between The Bahamas and Haiti. Members of the BCA were on that trade mission and are in further talks about possible ventures in Haiti, he noted.
"When you think about where Haiti is located and most of the firms being American or European based, that would mean that persons would have to jump over us to get to America to do construction services, when we in The Bahamas can render the services they need," said Sands. "I would expect that more and more Bahamians should look towards markets like Latin America is just one of the emerging markets that leaders in the country's financial services industry will be focused on at an upcoming stakeholders meeting.
"Latin America is of interest to us here in The Bahamas because of its growth and the new wealth that's being generated because those economies are growing," said Ivan Hooper, CEO at Winterbotham. "There has been a transfer of wealth. We have a variety of tools that can be used, making it very interesting for us." Hooper, who is also an executive on the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB), will participate in next week's Nassau Conference that has been designed for those in the financial services industry.
It is an opportunity for stakeholders to network and discuss how to provide an affordable, world-class development. Next week's Nassau Conference is noticeably focused on the Latin American markets. According to Hooper, those in the financial services industry, led by Financial Services minister Ryan Pinder, have been marketing The Bahamas throughout the region with recent trips to Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro Brazil and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) Latin American Conference in Panama City, Panama.
"The region is important for us and we believe that a lot of business can come from the region. In addition to benefitting the country's financial services sector, tapping into the Latin American market would also bring a financial boost to the tourism industry," Hooper said. During the conference other aspects of the industry will be addressed, such as the Bahamas Executive Bee (BEE) Bill, he added. "We will be addressing possible strategies that those in the region are looking for, and more knowledge is made public as to what the markets in the region are looking for. Why is The Bahamas an interesting place to do business?
There is going to be a strong presence of delegates that work within the financial services industry and the idea is that they are enlightened with certain facts that they emulate elsewhere," Hooper said. A number of speakers, including representatives from Credit Suisse Trust Ltd., Julius Baer Bank and Trust (Bahamas) Ltd, UBS (Bahamas) Ltd. and Societe Generale Private Banking (Bahamas) Ltd, are set for the roundtable discussions. Last month, Jean-Marc Fellay, chairman of the Association of International Banks and Trust (AIBT) revealed to Guardian Business that beyond its educational purpose, the October 12 conference at the British Colonial Hilton will stress the fact that countries like The Bahamas must better prepare themselves for dramatic changes in how they do business.
"Basically, there is a lot of need for emerging markets and wealth. These countries don't have the framework for asset management. You always have people who want to keep their wealth in a more secured environment, from a political standpoint or financial stability," according to Fellay.Haiti in countries that are now emerging and industrializing possibly millions and trillions of dollars worth of construction for the next 10 years." "One of the things that should be looked at is how similar would be the mode of construction, not even an island or country in the Caribbean shares our building code.
We should also look at profitability." The organization also recently announced an historic first for the construction sector. The BCA will host a Regional Conference of Caribbean Contractors, bringing together roughly 200 stakeholders from more than 20 countries. Sands said the conference is timely as the BCA signed on as a member of the Caribbean Contractors Association late last year.
"One of the things we decided to focus on in the conference is bringing in the entire Caribbean as an opportunity for local vendors to exchange, communicate and foster relationships that will cause us to have opportunities in other parts of the region," Sands said. The conference is part of a $150,000 grant that was facilitated by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). The conference will be held October 18-20 at the British Colonial Hilton and will end with a "field day", when the delegation will tour a number of large construction sites, such as Baha Mar, LPIA and the Nassau Container Port.
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