Expressing regret that the divestment did not proceed as planned, Minister of State for Finance Senator James Smith, said, “I am somewhat disappointed that our first try at privatisation did not work, because I was banking on the proceeds to go towards the debt reduction. But we will continue on trying.”
He told the group of businesspersons assembled at the Radisson Cable Beach resort that the disposition would have resulted in a reduction in the National Debt, which rose by $186.1 million to $1.93 billion in the third quarter of 2003.
The Progressive Liberal Party government had put a Dec. 31, 2003 deadline on the privatisation of a 49-per cent stakehold in the state-owned Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC).
A day before the end of BlueTel Consortium’s exclusive negotiating period with the government, the Tenders Commission announced it no longer wished to continue negotiations with that company, deciding that the proposal was not in the best interest of The Bahamas.
But despite the setback, Senator Smith, in his keynote address yesterday, the process should not be abandoned.
“A privatised BTC would not only provide additional funds to government for debt reduction in 2004, but should also provide increased capacity for expanding information technology, including the high speed data transmission capabilities which are essential to the e-commerce development effort,” he said.
A January 2003 “Policy Statement on Electronic Commerce and the Bahamian Digital Agenda” outlined the Government’s strategy for using e-commerce to “strengthen existing economic activities” and also “give rise to new economic developments and opportunities.”
The initially announced aim was to set the foundation for the Bahamian Digital Agenda and underscore the country’s commitment to global competitiveness and put in place the necessary information and communications infrastructure to sustain electronic business activity.
“We are convinced that a digital economy could reduce the cost of delivering public services while at the same time, improving transparency and efficiencies in our day-to-day activities,” Senator Smith said.
He continued that in order to given concrete expression to the policy, consideration was being given to establishing an E-business Development Office within the Ministry of Finance, which will have the responsibility for implementing IT strategy.
To provide a legal basis to the initiative, several e-commerce Bills were enacted, addressing such matters as: Rules for commercial transactions; protection of intellectual property rights; security; interconnectivity of information systems; privacy and confidentiality of consumer information.
In the near future, Senator Smith said, the government intends to establish an effective clearing and settlement system for E-commerce transactions.
The efforts to broaden the country’s information technology base were expected to be complemented by the successful privatisation of BTC.
By Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
