Ladies and gentlemen

Good morning

I am honoured to have been invited to present the keynote address to the 4^th Abaco Business Outlook. I wish to thank the Coordinator of Abaco Business Outlook and President of The Counsellors Ltd., Mrs. Joan Albury, for inviting me to participate in what promises to be a very productive day.

This public/private sector gathering provides us with the ideal opportunity to review the climate and status of business in our country generally and in Abaco in particular.

We are all conscious, I believe, that today’s globalized economy, regulated and managed to a great extent by trade agreements is increasingly competitive. To succeed in such an environment we must be informed, technologically savvy and up to date with the changing requirements, practices, and preferences in the market place.

And so, I find your chosen theme, "Growth by Design", most appropriate. ‘Growth by design’ implies planning; planning that takes into account the needs of and benefits to the community, the capacity of a site to accommodate and sustain the proposed development, and of course, the economic viability of any proposed venture. In short, if a development is to be sustainable, it must be well planned, adequately funded and capably directed.

Your theme is also timely as we in the Government embark on new initiatives to facilitate and enhance the growth and development of the Bahamian economy for the benefit of all Bahamians regardless to where they reside in our archipelago.

It is my hope that presenters at this Outlook will share their insight into ideas, concepts and trends with which they are conversant – indeed, expert, from their daily business lives.

A sharing of such views will assist us in making informed decisions that will augur well for all in our country. And so I am hopeful that your deliberations will produce innovative ideas on how we might meet some of the challenges we face in improving the climate for doing business in The Bahamas – reducing costly bureaucratic delays, increasing access to technology, improving and regularising standards, increasing compliance with regulation and generally enhancing efficiencies in our economy.

Abaco, as you know ladies and gentlemen, is the second largest island in our beautiful Bahamas. It is home to some of the most enterprising and hardworking people in The Bahamas and consequentially, it is a major employment centre for Bahamians.

As one of the few family islands already experiencing significant reverse migration of its sons and daughters - back from Nassau, Grand Bahamas or even further a field internationally - Abaco is demonstrably on its way to even greater levels of development.

First and foremost, Abaco has a thriving vacation and second home sector, a vibrant small resort sector, a strong marine resources sector and an agricultural sector with tremendous potential for further expansion.

This has resulted in the development of a vibrant retail sector and a growing professional sector including real estate, legal and banking services.

Abaco’s economy is based on a number of small to medium sized resorts, second homes, large agricultural concerns and the local businesses that support these initiatives.

Abaco is fortunate to have, in Bahamian terms, a diversified economy. Indeed, Abaco’s economy presents a model worthy of replicating around our country.

Abaco fishermen have long sustained their families on the profits derived from the sea. Abaconians were pioneers in the catch of crawfish for commercial purposes and the promotion and sale of that commodity has kept Abaco in the forefront of the sector. Abaco’s fishermen have been credited with designing unique ways of harvesting crawfish, taking into account the distinctive characteristics of the Abaco banks and surrounding waters.

Today, Abaco fisherman play an important role in informing the government on matters that run the gamut from proposed amendments to the Fisheries Regulations, to the creation of additional protected marine areas or national marine parks.

On the hotel and resort front the tourist developments at Walker’s Cay, Treasure Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Hope Town and Marsh Harbour have long histories and the small marinas that hug the mainland and cays of the Abacos are famous internationally.

In recent times new developments at Bahama Beach Club in Treasure Cay, the Abaco Club at Winding Bay, the Baker’s Bay development at Guana Cay now under construction, second homes together with a number of smaller projects are adding to Abaco’s tourist infrastructure.

For consideration is the ability of Abaco to absorb and service all of the developments proposed for Abaco.

Of course Abaco’s prosperous future has not been unanticipated. We long ago recognized the need to prepare this island to absorb and benefit from development.

That is we caused the development of the Marsh Harbour Port Facility during its last term in office – at that time the most expensive public infrastructural development undertaken by any Government of The Bahamas in a Family Island.

That is why we created the Central Pines Subdivision in Central Abaco.

That is why we intend to construct and put into operation a hospital in Central Abaco, a new Police and Government administrative complex.

And that is why we are upgrading the airports and terminal facilities at Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay

And this is why a new power station and increased electrical generation will be put into Abaco. And this is why we will upgrade and appropriately locate solid waste disposal facilities in North and South Abaco, and undertake overdue infrastructural works on Abaco and on the Cays.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The economic development model of The Bahamas was set more than half a century ago when the government of the day identified tourism and financial services as our tickets to a better life.

Defining the kind of tourism and financial services that best meet our needs has occupied governments ever since.

For this discussion I will look at our hotel and tourism sector and its impact upon family island development.

The jury is still out on what level of development we believe is optimal for our family islands.

What is special about all of our family islands and certainly about Abaco is the still unspoilt environment: the clean, clear waters, the good fishing grounds, the vibrant pine forests, the rich flora and fauna, the small population concentrations, and of course – peace loving, friendly people.

What is also now clear is that decisions on development matters require the full informed involvement of local communities. The time when governments could sit in Nassau and determine the future for citizens living in the family islands without their involvement is now gone.

The introduction of elected local government in 1996 was a signal of where we in the Free National Movement were headed in this regard. Local Government has not been as successfully implemented as may have been in many parts of our country. I believe we have lost some time; but, as is often said, it is never too late to do the right thing.

You may recall that in our first terms in office we pursued policies to attract small scale, environmentally-friendly resort development to our family islands.

In support of that objective a number of amendments were made to the Hotels Act and to the Hotels Encouragement Act so as to permit the owners and operators of small hotels and bed and breakfast establishments to access customs duty and real property tax concessions for the first time.

The result was a significant increase in the number of new Bahamian-owned small and medium-sized properties and the upgrade and refurbishment of others in a number of our islands.

We also experimented with larger scale developments with the expectation that larger employment generation would assist in attracting family islanders away from the capital and back to their home islands. The best example of such an initiative was our approval of the 250 room Emerald Bay Hotel and Golf Resort at Ocean Bight in Exuma.

To its credit, the Emerald Bay Resort and its associated residential and vacation plan developments (such as Grand Isle) have created increased employment opportunities for a significant number of Bahamians in Exuma.

The creation of this new employment centre has resulted in the expansion of banking and insurance services to Exuma and served as a catalyst for the development of new Bahamian-owned retail outlets as well as increased construction as Bahamians seek to meet the growing demand for housing.

The development, however, has also been charged with too quick a change in the social fabric of life in Exuma with a number of undesirable results. Here on Abaco, the more recent development of the Abaco Club at Winding Bay has proven less disruptive though that at Baker’s Bay resulted in considerable objection from some segments of the local community.

A proposal for a mega mixed resort development in Bimini Bay has for many years now been a bone of contention, not only because of its size and potential for social dislocation but also because of environmental concerns associated with the dredge for the marina, the backfilling of wetlands and the development of a major golf course.

These experiences have led us to re-evaluate development strategies to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated.

I might say that we are not necessarily convinced, for example, that every resort development on every island and cay require their own golf course and marina. And so we will move expeditiously to conclude consultation and adoption of the National Marina Policy; look to establish independent standards to be applied to golf course developments and seek to more adequately regulate coastal zone construction.

At the same time, we in Government remain committed to opening new economic opportunities for our citizens regardless to where they live in The Bahamas. And, we are similarly committed to ensuring that our environment is safeguarded and protected.

These commitments shape our policies and plans for pursuing development in our islands. We seek to meet the expectations and needs of residents for growth in the economy while taking care not to create employment demands exceeding our capacity. And, we seek to guard against creating unsustainable demands upon the physical resources of our islands.

Development that is not friendly to our environment, which does not embrace our culture and traditions and which creates undue demands on our environmental resources will not be supported by us.

We are however very interested in promoting and facilitating development that will provide new and increased opportunities for the deepening of local value added in our tourism product – through the use of Bahamian labour – professional and otherwise - (engineers, environmental scientists, architects, lawyers, realtors, contractors and associated technicians and skilled and unskilled labourers, landscape specialists, interior designers, light manufacturers, food processors, musicians and entertainment artists, fine artists, retail operators, land and sea tour operators, ground transportation) and Bahamian made or sourced goods.

In other words, in addition to ensuring that we promote the economic growth of our island communities, we seek to ensure that we protect and preserve our environment, our culture and our people.

And so I challenge you to look at the development of projects that promote eco- and cultural tourism, cottage industries and other ventures that promote economic growth but that maintain the dignity of our people, and the preservation of our environment.

The Government in which I am honoured to serve will not abandon the future of our country to the economic whims of others. We (and that means you and us) must ensure that we are pursuing development by design – that is Bahamian design.

We (and that is you and us) ought not succumb to foreign designs for mega projects that will overtax our natural resources, exceed our human capacity and transform our traditions beyond recognition.

We will improve the educational and training levels of our people.

We will become more technologically savvy.

We will be innovative.

We understand that if our education system does not produce individuals who are able to assume required positions in our economy then the level in investment in our country becomes irrelevant.

That is why education and training has been accorded the highest priority by the Government. We need you also to accord education your top priority and to join forces with us in ensuring that our young people are encouraged to remain in school, are afforded opportunities for internships and are granted employment and on the job training once they have entered the work force.

The Government in which I have the honour to serve is also committed to continue to review and reform and update our legislative framework in support of business development.

We will honour these commitments in support of Bahamian business and commerce.

A part of encouraging greater linkages between tourism and other sectors of our economy might also include increased support to segments of our tourism sector. And so, we have under consideration the grant of certain concessions available under the Hotels Encouragement Act for hotel development to other tourist related businesses including restaurants and or recreational and entertainment establishments for example.

And, we will keep the International Persons Landholding Act under review so as to ensure that its provisions continue to promote and to serve the best interests of our people.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are committed to listening as we seek to avoid the pitfalls of the past.

We are satisfied however that economic growth, especially for tourist and residential projects development in sparsely populated islands, should take into account such factors as the social impact these developments could have on small island communities and their quality of life.

It goes without saying that development can only proceed with careful attention to the environmental impact of the project. This government is determined to stop the assault on the environmental integrity of The Bahamas resulting from harmful practices such as unauthorized excavations of hills, back filling of wetlands and dredging of sand.

Toward this end we will refine legislation for the regulation and provision of guidelines for the environmental impact assessments.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Planned growth that is ‘growth by design’ requires that a community is ready for development and hence able to benefit fully from its implementation.

Long gone is the time when a Government could approve a barrage of development projects in the hope and expectation that at least a few would be implemented and thereby meet the communities needs vis a vis employment.

Today, projects must be carefully considered to ensure that only the most viable are approved; and that once approved, they move to implementation in a timely fashion.

I believe that it is equally important that we ensure that the number of approved projects does not exceed the capacity of our communities to meet the manpower demands or infrastructure requirements of the projects.

The theme of this business outlook "Economic Growth by Design" is indeed relevant to the times in which we live. The Bahamas has enjoyed a dynamic prosperous economy due to its reliance on Tourism and Financial Services. However, if our economy is to continue to grow we must embrace the idea of planning for development

I wish to commend you for your commitment to the economic development of The Bahamas and, on behalf of the people and Government of The Bahamas, I wish to thank you for your continued support.