Following Prime Minister Perry Christie's extensive overview on major developments on the table on 2014, a top executive at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) is hoping these projects will come to fruition "soon" so that The Bahamas would be able to benefit from sustainable growth.
During his keynote address at the 23rd Annual Bahamas Business Outlook on Monday, the prime minister unveiled a number of major projects which he believes could impact the economy in 2014, including hotels, stem cell facilities, ports and expansions/upgrades to already existing touristic facilities.
BCCEC Chairman Chester Cooper said he was particularly pleased with the government's plan to use the national flag carrier, Bahamasair, to target more international routes as opposed to domestic routes. He suggested that smaller, local airlines like SkyBahamas should be the ones to capitalize on the domestic market.
"Anyone who travels from The Bahamas to Florida or vice versa over any holiday period, especially in recent weeks, will be able to tell you not only how difficult has it been to get a flight in and out, but how expensive it is. It's not uncommon to find that you're paying $500 for a ticket in that high peak season. What that tells me is that there is a lot of demand and not enough supply. So I was particularly pleased by that development because not only will it help airlift to The Bahamas, but no doubt it will certainly help Bahamasair because those routes could be very profitable," he told Guardian Business.
"This is the role I believe that Bahamasair ought to be playing. Instead of going to Inagua, Exuma and some of the other Family Islands, it can certainly lease those commuter routes to local airlines like Sky Bahamas, encouraging entrepreneurship and at the same time using the capacity of Bahamasair to bring tourists to The Bahamas.
"So I was particularly pleased with the prime minister's announcement that Bahamasair will be coordinating and doing more international flights to major cities." While he liked the prime minister's speech, Cooper admitted to Guardian Business that he wished Christie would have used some of that allotted time to discuss the development of "new" industries.
But the BCCEC chairman maintains that the "silver lining" for the country will be the opening of the $3.5 billion Baha Mar resort, set for December.
"Hopefully, it can come to fruition rather quickly, perhaps in the fourth quarter, so that there is a reduction in unemployment along with a boost and growth in The Bahamas. If we can see these developments bearing fruit, no doubt this will augur well for all of the factors that we look at when we talk about the outlook for The Bahamas. So I'm looking forward to things happening very quickly," he revealed.
"Maybe there could have been more regarding forecasts and the development of new industries that might come. There could have some timeline in terms of developing an oil exploration industry. Certainly when we look at the direct impact of the U.S. economy on The Bahamas, we need to look at the direct impact of our falloff in tourist stopovers on the economy of The Bahamas.
"It's clear that we need to do more for the economy of The Bahamas, so that we're not so fickle in terms of the direct impact that we get as result of tourism out of the U.S. economy. If we can diversify, create more linkages to tourism and more new industries, then we should be in good shape.
"So it was refreshing that the prime minister laid out some other developments that are in the pipeline. We hope that all of these projects can come to fruition very quickly," Cooper added.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian