Seated from left: Director of Investments Candia Ferguson, Cabinet Secretary Wendall Major, and MSC Executive Chairman Pierfrancesco Vago.  Standing, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie at right, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs the Hon. Allyson Maynard Gibson, centre, and Minister of Education, Science and Technology the Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald, left.  (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie said that the signing of a Heads of Agreement between The Bahamas Government and Mediterranean Shipping Company Limited (MSC) was a "special occasion" and gives rise to a "major economic thrust" in The Bahamas, with further future multi-million-dollar investments in the project already being considered.

"I say a special occasion because it is unusual in small island states to find companies with global reach and with an understanding of the inherent value of strategic partnerships that will make multiple investments that significantly impact local entrepreneurs, provide spin-off effects in the local economy, as well as provide many jobs and training opportunities," Prime Minister Christie said during the signing at his office, on December 16, 2015.

He added: "Mediterranean Shipping Company Limited is such a company and, after a twenty-year relationship with The Bahamas, is making a commitment to generate new investments that intersect with the three pillars of the Bahamian economy -- namely that of shipping, tourism and maritime education -- and in so doing has not only differentiated MSC from the pack, but has elevated its partnership with the Government in a way that is bound to re-shape economic and human resource development in our country."

Prime Minister Christie noted that MSC is the world’s second largest global shipping company and one of the largest and fastest growing cruise lines headquartered in Geneva. It is also a partner of another conglomerate and major Freeport investor, the Hutchison Group of Companies.

He also pointed out that the Freeport Harbour and Container Terminal -- which is privately owned and operated by Hutchison Port Holdings and the Port Group -- is the deepest of all of the harbours along the eastern seaboard of the United States, which gives it a strategic advantage in world trade.

"MSC, the world’s second largest privately owned container shipping company, with 480 vessels on 200 routes, and second in the industry only to the global shipping giant, Maersk, is the sole supplier to the Freeport Container Terminal," he stated.

Prime Minister Christie noted that MSC has committed to a $250-million dollar, Phase V investment that will re-position the Freeport hub to compete with similar hubs in Panama and Jamaica, which are undergoing aggressive port expansions in 2016.

"Contractors for Phase V have been short-listed and one will be selected in the coming weeks," he said.

Prime Minister Christie said that he recently met with the principals of MSC in London to discuss several of their proposed initiatives, including the Phase V Expansion of the Freeport Container Port Terminal in conjunction with its partner, Hutchison Port Holdings and, he said that he was "excited" about their plans.

"This initiative will serve to double capacity and output by 40 per cent, to two million containers per annum, thereby increasing production and employment at Hutchison’s Container Port," Prime Minister Christie said.

He added that MSC’s cargo services have created 19,500 direct and indirect jobs in Freeport and generated over one billion dollars of revenue to the Government over the period 2001 - 2014.

"This new Phase V is welcomed as it is coming at a time when the Government seeks to develop synergistic investments in Grand Bahama, with undertakings such as ship care to service, the Bahamas Maritime Registry and a Bulk Logistics Park through which packaging and storage of products could be facilitated for shipping world-wide," he said.

Prime Minister Christie also pointed out that MSC has said that they may also entertain Phase VI and VII envelopes at an additional cost of US$280 million, given the right tax environment.

"Through these and other initiatives, and working along with Freeport’s major stakeholders, the Government aims to create the desired economic framework and governance structure for the revitalization of Grand Bahama, which would put the nation’s second city on a path to economic sustainability and realization of the vision of its city’s original founder, Wallace Groves, through enactment of the 1955 Hawksbill Creek Agreement," he said.