Aid to the successful development of Bahamian entrepreneurs will materialise when a free trade zone will be implemented with the proposed expansion of the Gladstone Road Industrial Park.
Speaking to scores of supporters at the Progressive Liberal Party Convention last Thursday, Minister of Trade & Industry, Leslie Miller said that the new Gladstone Road Industrial Park, which will be made up of 200 acres, will feature a free trade zone on fifty acres, where semi finished goods coming from Europe and the far East will be assembled at the site for forward shipment to the United States.
Coming under the Ministry of Trade and Industry is the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC), whose mission it is to assist in the development of Bahamian entrepreneurs by enabling them to become involved in the economic life of the country by making contributions to its growth.
It is because of BAIC motto, Minister Miller said, that the PLP Government initiated a policy in the ‘Our Plan’ that called for the sale of government owned land and buildings in the Soldier road Industrial Park to be sold to the tenants who occupy them. A move that will allow them to become owners and operators of their respective businesses.
“This is how your great PLP Government will empower our people to become true players in our quest to produce a cadre of Bahamian entrepreneurs,” Minister Miller said. “Indeed, help and hope is on the way.”
“But I promise you that within the next three months, every single building in the Industrial Park and every vacant lot will be sold to Bahamians to enable them to be full participants in the economic life of our country. This is what your PLP Government is doing for the small businessperson.”
An ultra modern first class automotive repair facility on ten acres of land is also planned at the site. This according to the Minister will allow roadside and or bush mechanics to operate in a secure and appropriate environment thus relieving neighbourhoods of the unclean and unsafe habits consistent with the operations of the small business operators.
Minister Miller also revealed that his ministry will launch a Central Automotive Centre for the repair of all government vehicles. Moreover, he said this facility will be utilised as a training center for Bahamians with the desire to operate auto repair businesses.
Likewise, the implementation of a handicraft and souvenir facility will also be available in the Soldier Road Industrial Park where Bahamians can be trained to become involved in the $150 million dollar handicraft and souvenir industry that currently exists in the country.
“I now call on all government ministries, corporations and departments to fully support locally made products,” he said. “Likewise, I appeal to hotel operators and again importers and distributors to fully support Bahamian made products. We should be creating jobs in The Bahamas instead of creating jobs elsewhere by importing goods that are made and can be found in The Bahamas.”
The Minister of Trade and Industry said that in an effort to further assist small business entrepreneurs, BAIC will be re-launching its new Micro-Lending Facility for Cottage Industry with loans ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 dollars.
Furthermore, he said the government also has a Loan Guarantee facility of $10 million dollars for qualified Bahamians to receive Government Guaranteed Loans of up to $250,000.
The Minister said that Bahamian manufacturers need to be assisted by leading local importers and distributors by the retainment of currency in The Bahamas, the growth and development of local entrepreneurs and the creation of an array of spin-off entities.
“It is our mission, as the Government of the day, to strengthen our economy through job creation and economic diversification, so that Bahamians everywhere in these Bahama Islands who want to work, can do so, in order to achieve a better standard of living for themselves and their families,” he said.
“Yes, these are challenging times, as we are faced with an increasingly globalised world, a small world organised around competition and profit.”
Addressing the issue of the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the World Trade Organisation, Minister Miller said the government is committed to strengthening the capacity of Bahamian negotiators in order to fully participate in negotiations of the two international and hemispheric trading arrangements.
Reiterating comments made by the Prime Minister during the 2002/03 Budget Communication, Minister Miller said the Government will ultimately decide whether The Bahamas will join the FTAA or WTO once the trading arrangements are thoroughly analysed and the advantages and disadvantages of membership are clearly known.
Further, the Government of The Bahamas is firmly of the view that membership in any trading arrangement should be a ‘win-win’ situation that is on balance, there is no trade off on the sovereign rights of The Bahamas and that the unique interests of The Bahamas is preserved at all times.
“I wish to state categorically that the Government of The Bahamas intends to reserve its basic right to manage its domestic trade policies including the use of policies to safeguard infant trade industries and businesses,” he said.
Expressing the Government’s concern of the many issues that have risen about the FTAA especially as it relates to globalisation, Minister Miller said the concerns are related to the ability of corporate interests to dictate the trade agenda at the expense of human rights and environmental considerations.
“To this end, the Government is deeply committed to engaging the widest possible consultative mechanism to include all of the stakeholders of a society, to develop consensus on a national position on the FTAA, WTO, CARICOM Single Market and Economy and the ACPEI partnership agreement,” Minister Miller said.
To deal with the matter, the Minister said, Prime Minister Christie has already established a Ministerial Committee, to review, bring focus and policy direction on all issues relating to international trade and globalisation.
“Private sector representation and participation is integral to the consultative process,” he said “and we will seek to improve and expand on the existing consultative structure, to integrate more fully the private sector in this process.”
In addition to this process, the Government will appoint a Blue Ribbon Commission to be CO-chaired by Wendy Craig, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank and The Bahamas chair of the FTAA services group and Raymond Winder, President of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce.
In September of this year, a WTO Reference Center was established at the College of The Bahamas to enable students, faculty and the general public to obtain first hand knowledge on the WTO and its function.
Minister Miller stated that the Government is committed to providing data on the FTAA and the WTO to effectively meet the negotiating techniques for both the public and private sector, particularly as it relates to the assurance of greater flexibility to safeguard and promote small businesses to become more competitive.
By Lisa Albury, The Nassau Guardian
