Bahamas lagging behind in attracting quality investments, says Turnquest

Mon, Jul 3rd 2017, 10:46 AM

The Bahamas is lagging behind the rest of the region in attracting quality investments, Deputy Prime Minster Peter Turnquest said recently. He sought to ensure that investors understand The Bahamas "remains open for business".
However, Turnquest, who was speaking at the Billionaire Roundtable conference held at the Grand Hyatt, Baha Mar resort on Friday, insisted that this country is looking for investors who will bring "innovative projects" and is adamant that those foreign direct investment projects have a real economic impact.
"We are lagging behind in attracting quality investments," he said.
"We want to ensure that as we go about the next couple of years we institute policies to ensure with every dollar The Bahamas spends there will be a true impact for the people of The Bahamas."
Turnquest has been extremely critical of the amount of concessions The Bahamas grants to foreign investors, insisting that successive administrations have given away too much, while in some cases, not receiving sufficient economic return. The deputy prime minister promised to table past agreements so that the Bahamian people understand what kinds of concessions the Bahamian people have given up in the past.
The Free National Movement government has vowed to offer concessions to Bahamians that compare favorably to those given to foreign investors. Bahamian investors have long felt ostracized by governments in regards to investment opportunities.
"We want to look at the whole package of concessions that we give both domestic investors and international investors to ensure that they are appropriate given the competitive and open economy we have today," Turnquest said.
"As you know, the old model has been turned upside down by technology that exists today and we have kind of been left behind.
"We are still following the traditional model of how we attract investment and incentivize investment locally. We have to take advantage and embrace technology that exists. We have to embrace and believe in resources that we have and the human capital that we have, and we have to redesign all of that to ensure we are relevant today... that the incentives that we give today are competitive in today's global world, and, as I said, to make The Bahamas a destination to not just go for cheap land and cheap labor, but one that is of a quality that can compete anywhere in the world."

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