The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance brought official remarks at the Millionaire’s Mile Fireside Chat, On Wednesday, September 19, an event held at the Performing Arts Centre, University of The Bahamas Campus; as a part of The Small Business Development Centre’s launch. He spoke on the topic “The Bahamian Economy Reimagined”.
During his remarks, he said to the audience, “Imagine The Commonwealth of The Bahamas as a blank canvas: no tourism, no foreign direct investment, a pristine land of opportunity.
What would you create? What would you do? However, you answer that question; that is the goal of the reimagined Bahamian economy: the creation of a set of circumstances where whatever your imagination and creativity can design can be put to the test, and implemented without barriers. What would you do? How would it work?”
“What would you do to create a tourism industry from scratch, given the gifts nature and providence have bestowed on The Bahamas, Hon. Turnquest asked?” He encouraged his audience to be advantageous and think outside of the box to create a sustainable tourism industry.
“According to the Adventure Travel Trade Association the definition of ‘adventure’ in adventure travel is changing: risky adrenaline activities are now only about half as popular as ‘experiencing a new culture’ in the definition of adventure travel.”
Turnquest asked, “How many ways can we package and present flora, fauna, food, culture, the architecture, the children’s game of The Bahamas to the ‘adventure traveler’? What would it mean to Bahamians to be creative in a whole other way, relying on wit and sustainable resources?
The Bahamas is steeped in history: we are the oldest Parliamentary Democracy in this region, we have stood at the crossroads of the era of the great pirates and privateers, we have survived and thrived in the time of the rum runners, and the wreckers, we have been spongers.
Columbus and the Eleutheran Adventurers
some of our most famous or infamous visitors. What about our bush medicine or the industrial potential of our farmland.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 highlights one of my foundational proposition.
In the area of building a thriving economy with rewarding opportunities, The skills and competencies of our children are one of the most important and cherished assets.
To make the most of their potential, we will build a culture that rewards determination, provides opportunities for all and helps everyone acquire the necessary skills to achieve their personal goals”, said Mr. Turnquest.
He said, “Another foundational proposition in reimagining The Bahamian economy include opportunity – we must become more adept at recognizing opportunity.
Yet, another foundational plank is the recognition that we live in the digital era, and it presents an opportunity as we reimagine the Bahamian economy to recast the way business is done.
The final foundational proposition, I am calling this one Peter’s Law, ‘What is that people need but don’t know they need until you introduce?”
Finally, “The reimagined Bahamian economy would be one in which the entrepreneurial fate of the citizen is not determined by his or her ability to access capital, or concessions, or the ability to pick up the phone and call a politician to break the waves for him or her at the regulatory bottleneck: that bottleneck would not exist, and the access barriers that plague our economy today would be removed.
Imagine easy, simple, fair and transparent access to capital, to advice, to concessions and incentives.
In the reimagined Bahamian economy
where such concerns were not the pestilence they may be today for Bahamian entrepreneurs, the success of an entrepreneurial venture would be more determined by the man or woman than by the circumstance, by his or her character, place in time, culture, history. In a reimagined Bahamian economy that worked like that, one cannot but imagine that every Bahamian would succeed,” said Mr. Turnquest.
