NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Chairman of the Bahamas Trade Commission said that efforts are underway to eliminate the middle process and ensure that goods can come directly from major export countries to Grand Bahama and then directly to the islands of The Bahamas, which he said could reduce the cost of goods by 20 percent.

Philip Galanis told the Eleuthera Business Outlook that this nation has a massive trade deficit, and the Commission is looking at ways to decrease imports and increase this nation's exports. He noted that the Commission is working particularly with countries where The Bahamas has embassies to see how Bahamian exports can be increased to those countries. Trade missions have also been held to these countries.

He also noted that the Commission is exploring how to cut out the intermediary steps so that goods can come directly from countries like Australia, Europe, and China to Grand Bahama, then be offloaded to Bahamian vessels and exported directly to the islands. This streamlined process is expected to cut costs by 20 percent.

"We import inflation. Last year, we had a virtual meeting with the city of Yiwu in China, where Bahamians could access goods directly. Last week, there was the biggest trade show in Yiwu, and we had a delegation of 40-50 Bahamians. Out of that will come the opportunity for them to import goods at much less expensive rates," Galanis said. 

Additionally, a trade mission to Brazil is scheduled for the end of this month. "We are hoping to take some major food stores with us so they can hopefully shift some of their purchasing habits from North America and see how we can reduce the cost of food, a major component of the cost of doing business," he added.

"Historically, we have not been a major exporter. Our trade deficit is in the billions. There are opportunities for The Bahamas to expand the amount of food we export from Eleuthera, particularly in fisheries and agriculture. We are working with our partners abroad and with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to determine which companies are export-ready and what they need to do to become export-ready," said Galanis.

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