The Bahamas Financial Services Board and the Nassau Tourism Development Board were urged to assist in devising a long-term strategy for the survival of the Bahamian tourism and financial sectors.
Minister of Financial Services and Investments Allyson Maynard-Gibson also challenged the NTDB to release its “excellent” publication on trade agreements, so as to form the basis for an informed debate.
The minister officially opened a technical seminar on Services and Trade Agreements hosted by the BFSB and NTDB on the weekend at the British Colonial Hilton.
The featured speaker was a leading expert on trade policy, Mark Sills, who provided a history of trade agreements as they relate to the range of businesses engaged in the service industries, and a perspective on opportunities and challenges for The Bahamas operating with these trade agreements.
Mr. Sills is the government’s consultant in respect of both the Free Trade Area of the Americas and World Trade Organisation negotiations. He also developed the trade memorandum, the first step in The Bahamas becoming a full member of the WTO.
According to Mrs. Maynard-Gibson, Mr. Sills can independently assess the Bahamian economy in light of his extensive experience, particularly in the FTAA and WTO.
At the seminar, Mrs. Maynard-Gibson reaffirmed the government’s commitment to consultation with all interested parties in relation to FTAA and WTO negotiations, to ensue that “all Bahamians have every opportunity to fully understand the facts as relate to our potential accession to both of these trade agreements and to ensuring as best we can that our negotiations are in respect of both are in tandem.”
Stating that she is aware of the NTDB’s “excellent” publication on the agreements, Mrs. Maynard-Gibson encouraged the board to make it widely available to form the basis of an informed debate.
As The Bahamas is already “effectively” at Mode 3 of the International Trade levels, the minister expressed confidence in Bahamians’ ability to engage in debate about the content of the government’s offer.
“I believe that Bahamians wish to be at the table in debate about issues that will impact us. I also believe that The Bahamas would want to be a member of the largest trade organisation that has as its members almost every major economy in the world,” Mrs Maynard-Gibson said. “WTO agreements, especially in services, affect us whether or not we participate in the discussion. I for one believe that we should be present and participants in matters that affect our future.”
With this information, she added, The Bahamas can identify the many available opportunities and confront the challenges ahead.
The Bahamas was among 34 democratic countries at the first Summit of the Americas in 1994, during which leaders agreed to pursue the establishment of the FTAA, a hemispheric free trade zone by 2005 that will comprise more than 800 million consumers.
By Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
