A well-designed E-commerce development strategy supported by appropriate legislation can position The Bahamas to compete in the global economy.
In keeping with its promised, the PLP Government tabled a package of E-commerce Bills in the House of Assembly last Thursday.
The main objective of the Bills is to create an environment necessary to instill confidence in on-line commercial activity, particularly, global.
During 2000-20001, priority in drafting and implementing legislation was devoted to addressing issues raised by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the Financial Stability Forum (FSF) and the timetables.
The Bahamas Government intends to focus on its mission to establishing the necessary conditions for e-business to progress.
Stating that E-commerce is an area in which there much is lagging, President of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce Raymond Winder, notes satisfaction that the legislation has finally reached Parliament.
In an interview with The Guardian over the weekend, Mr. Winder said the measure would aid in institutionalising The Bahamas as a reputable E-commerce center.
“It is going to be the next area in financial services where we will begin to have some impact,” he said.
While he believes in its usefulness, the process is expected to take considerable time for the average Internet user to be familiarised. For instance, the issue of exchange control will potentially slow down the process.
“There are other facilities that need to improve as well in order for the transfer of goods to and fro in the country,” Mr. Winder said. “This will effect how quickly the movement of funds or the exchange of funds from Bahamian to US dollars can be made stronger. Bahamians do a lot of shopping so I can see it having a big impact on their lives.”
To be armed for this knowledge-based economy, he said, speed is critical. Millions of dollars will accrue or lost depending on how well Government and private sectors adopt to new circumstances and situations.
An Electronic Commerce Policy Statement is expected to be released this year and according to Minister of State for Finance, Senator James Smith, it can be regarded as a powerful step in economic development.
It also conveys the Government’s strategy for transforming the Bahamian economy to a digital one.
“The policy would set the foundation for the Bahamian Digital Agenda in order to ensure that we are globally competitive and have in place the necessary information and communications infrastructure to sustain electronic business activity,” Minister Smith said.
A digital economy can possibly lower costs involved in public services and rally transparency and efficiencies in public service.
An E-Business Development Office in the Ministry of Finance is anticipated and will play a pivotal role in implementing the strategy. Hence the need for supportive legislation.
The Ministry of Financial Services and Investments has also committed to working closely with the Ministry of Finance to develop the enabling framework for the e-commerce industry and will move forward expeditiously to promote this new industry for The Bahamas.
Matters addressed in the E-commerce legislation include: commercial transactions; protection of intellectual property rights; security; interconnectivity of information systems; privacy and confidentiality of consumer information.
In his keynote address at the recent Bahamas Business Outlook, Prime Minister Perry Christie promoted the country’s economic growth as a vital e-commerce center capable of attracting international interest.
This can only be a reality when the required body of legislation is in position safeguarding intellectual property rights with the highest quality technological infrastructure available in the telecommunications sector as well as a force of competent computer-literate workers.
Attorney General Alfred Sears, in his address to the PLP 47th Convention reported that by January 2003 an integrated justice network would be in place. The Bahamas Integrated Justice Information System (BIJIS) is a computerised system accessible to all of the various elements of the “law and order” system in The Bahamas οΎ– including the Office of the Attorney General and the Courts.
Prime Minister Christie has indicated that the E-commerce legislation “for a new industry in The Bahamas” should be up and running before June of this year.
While making his presentation at the latest International Labour Conference on the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Michael Halkitis noted that at the San Jose Trade Ministerial meeting in 1998, a Joint (Government/Private Sector) Committee of Experts on Electronic Commerce was established to make recommendations to ministers on:
(a) how to increase and broaden the benefits of electronic commerce; and,
(b) how electronic commerce should be dealt with in the context of the FTAA negotiations.
Since that time, the Committee has asked countries participating in the FTAA process to:
* promote access to public telecommunications networks on a non-discriminatory basis;
* provide for the great majority of their citizens to participate in the process and to increase their awareness of the new technology;
* promote/use e-commerce in government-to-government, government to business and government-to- individual transactions;
* develop codes of conduct to protect individual privacy and ensure consumer protection to online customers, in a manner similar to that afforded to traditional customers.
In addition, governments have been asked to:
* jointly with the private sector, consider the development and implementation of national strategies for e-commerce;
* foster the development of an environment in which business-to -business electronic commerce can continue to flourish;
* foster a suitable framework for electronic commerce in the legal system of each country.
“All of these things are intended to reform and modernise economies to meet the challenges of a changing technological world,” Mr. Halkitis said. “The Bahamas might well consider adopting some of these reforms whether or not it enters into free trade agreements with countries in this hemisphere.”
By Lisa Albury, The Nassau Guardian
