Making his first visit to Grand Bahama, the ambassador of Qatar as special envoy to The Bahamas has been informed that the island is poised to become a global shipping and business center in preparation for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in early 2015 and is set to establish a state-of-the-art arbitration center.
Visiting the island yesterday on the heels of the formal establishment of The Bahamas' diplomatic relations with Qatar in August, Mohamed Bin Abdulla Al-Rumaihi, was welcomed by Minister for Grand Bahama Dr. Michael Darville.
"The ambassador's visit today signifies Qatar's seriousness about and commitment to working with the Government of The Bahamas, and with Grand Bahama island in particular. As the minister for Grand Bahama, I am happy that His Excellency's fact finding mission has led him to our shores, as Grand Bahama island has so much to offer in terms of tourism, trade, cultural exchanges and investment opportunities," said Darville.
The minister said that the ambassador would be shown how Grand Bahama Island has established a first class reputation as a major maritime and transshipment center during his visit.
"In touring our industrial zone, you will see that our maritime industry encompasses a wide range of sectors including ship registry, ship and mega yacht repair, oil transshipment and storage and international cargo transshipment," he stated.
Darville also informed that Freeport boasts one of the deepest man made harbors in the region, a world class international airport capable of handling the largest aircraft in service, and an international business and logistics park for value-added and cargo handling activities.
"Additionally, plans are now on the drawing board to further strengthen our island's position as a leading maritime center with the construction of a state-of-the-art arbitration center.
"We believe that Grand Bahama island has a lot of potential to develop its natural resources and is poised to become a global shipping and business center in preparation for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in early 2015," he said.
Darville said that as a result of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties between the two countries, a mutually beneficial relationship can be fostered that will allow the equal exchange of information, create valuable opportunities for trade expansion, transference of technical expertise and knowledge in tourism, maritime and industrial, energy and financial services sectors.
Ambassador Al-Rumaihi expressed gratitude to the minister and the government for the invitation to visit The Bahamas. He said his country has established the relationship to extend friendship to the people of The Bahamas.
He said although Qatar is a major exporter of oil and gas, that is not the main objective for the government or the Qatari people.
"His Highness, the Emir of Qatar, has a vision 2033 and we are going to host, in mid-term, 2022 World Cup." He said Qatar has established the basic pillars of education and culture as its objectives and that healthcare and industry will establish the country's ability to not have to rely only on exportation of the oil and gas in the future.
"So these are the targets, and Qatar reaches out to friendly countries and friendly people to invest and to develop our brothers in the humanity to reach their target, whatever their aims to develop their people," he continued, "and this is one of the visits that have the honor to represent my country here, to visit your beautiful country, and your nice people to measure what are the opportunities that Qatar can extend to the people and the country of The Bahamas."
Ambassador Al-Rumaihi will be in Grand Bahama until Saturday. He will meet with executives of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce and Grand Bahama Port Authority, as well as tour BORCO, Freeport Container Port, the Ginn Project and West End and the Deep Water Cay Club in east Grand Bahama.

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