The development of a trade information service desk and electronic portal for The Bahamas would help to improve the ease of doing business and is expected to be established by the first quarter of 2017.

Grant funding for the initiative will be provided by the European Union through the technical assistance component of the CARIFORUM-EU economic partnership agreement (EPA).

The Ministry of Financial Services and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers' Confederation (BCCEC) are collaborating in an effort to establish the portal next year.

Minister of Financial Services Hope Strachan met recently with officials of the International Trade Centre (ITC), a specialized joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, to discuss the development of a portal in The Bahamas.
ITC, through a bidding process, won the contract to design and develop the portal.

The intention of the portal is to create a "one-stop shop" for trade information.

Under this type of framework, people can "access important national, regional and international trade information, such as export/import statistics, information on trade regulations (e.g. quality requirements and standards, certification requirements and rules of origin), as well as shipping information, company profiles and key information on trade agreements," according to a press statement.

The statement added that, "The establishment of the portal is a part of the government's ongoing efforts to diversify the economy by expanding trade with regional, hemispheric and international trading partners."

Xian Smith, Guardian Business Reporter

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