In his address at the annual Business Outlook conference, Governor of the Central Bank, Julian Francis called on Bahamians to abandon this approach.
Describing what he termed a ﾓpervasive Bahamian desire to resist change and to assume that our country can continue to enjoy the fruits of our traditional good fortune without any particular effort on our part,ﾔ Governor Francis called on Bahamians to embrace the necessary reforms if the economy was going to be able to meet the demand for an ﾓever increasing improved standard and quality of life.ﾔ
For Governor Francis, the countryﾴs willingness to embrace reform and change will determine whether or not The Bahamas can continue to enjoy the improvements it has had over the past three and half decades.
His call for reforms, however, necessarily touches on sensitive areas of the economy. It is a long-held article of economic faith that certain areas of the economy, e.g. retail, fishing, law, and domestic manufacturing, are reserved for Bahamians.
Eddie Laing, owner of Bahamas Box Company (1989) Limited and president of the Bahamas Light Industry Development Council (BLIDC) in an interview yesterday with the Bahama Journal, said that reserving certain sectors of the economy was a sound policy that had helped Bahamian development.
ﾓThe WTO calls for each country to control the movement of capital,ﾔ he said. ﾓWe have international companies under the franchise system, Kentucky, Burger King, but are owned by Bahamians. We have no problem with a Home Depot coming in here but it must be with a Bahamian company. That is what it means by controlling the flow of capital.ﾔ
In the manufacturing sector, he said that the Council had being working with The Bahamas Agricultural & Industrial Corporation (BAIC) to formulate a strategy to ensure the survival of Bahamian manufacturers in the face of trade liberalisation.
ﾠﾓIt would be foolish to say you canﾴt have a foreign investor come into The Bahamas,ﾔ he said, ﾓbut what we are saying is that we can have joint ventures with the foreign investor.ﾔ
Mr. Laing said that the proposition put forward by those supporting the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) is that consumer prices will fall, but he said that the consumer could only benefit at the expense of government revenues.
ﾓDo you think the US business man is going to drop his prices because you have removed your tariffs?ﾔ he asked. ﾓAnd where will the government get its revenues from?ﾔ
He said that the FTAA merely opened our markets, mainly to US suppliers who are not going to drop their prices and are looking to expand their market share.
For Mr. Laing, the suggestion that the Bahamian policy of reserving certain sectors of the economy for Bahamian business is a sound one. Asked about the hotel sector, he said the hotel sectorﾴs earnings were from outside the country and by their presence brought revenues to the government and jobs.
ﾓWhat you need are companies that do not pay at the border but who come to work with a Bahamian company,ﾔ he said. ﾓTake health insurance, a company like Ditech could come in and team up with a Bahamian company and so offer better rates to Bahamians and generate revenues for the government.ﾔ
When he was quoted a portion of Governor Francisﾴ presentation dealing with the need to reform immigration regulations allowing persons to come in to work, Mr. Laing said, ﾓhe (Mr. Francis) wouldnﾴt want to be the one to change that.ﾔ
Governor Francis made the following observations on the Legal Services: ﾓThere is, I think, an increasing realization that the maintenance of a strict legal monopoly in favour of members of the Bahamas Bar, certainly as it affects the delivery of international financial services, is highly counter-productive.
ﾓThe best that one can say for this anachronism is that it fails to appreciate to what extent legal services have become synonymous with this industry; some feel that like some of our labour union leaders, legal practitioners who refuse to contemplate any compromise in this regard are simply pursuing naked self interest. If the policy-makers refuse to take-on the Bar in a meaningful way on this issue, this is a matter, which should be put to the Bahamian people to decide. It is simply too important to the future of a potentially more vibrant and dynamic financial services industry to leave it as it currently stands.ﾔ
Wayne Munroe, Bahamas Bar Association president, disagreed saying they were not ﾓfighting wordsﾔ but rather ﾓignorant wordsﾔ in an interview with The Bahama Journal. Referring to a major international financial matter before the courts, Mr. Munroe invited Mr. Francis to attend Justice Smallﾴs court ﾓand get some informationﾔ.
ﾓFirst, the Bahamas Bar Association and the Bar Council are concerned only with practice before the Bahamas Bar,ﾔ he explained. ﾓThe practice has long been established that anyone wishing to practice before The Bahamas Bar, where Bahamian law is practiced, must first show that there are no Bahamians capable of handling the matter. Once they are able to show that justice will be served, the Bar acquiesces to the application. In other cases the lawyer may merely wish to be present during the proceedings and in such matters it is an Immigration matter and the appropriate procedures are followed and the applicant is allowed to enter The Bahamas and attend the proceedings.ﾔ
Mr. Munroe said in the matter of financial experts, such as compliance officers, tax consultants and trust officers, this is strictly an Immigration matter and has nothing to do with the Bahamas Bar Association.
ﾓIf the government wants to allow foreign consultants in the financial services sector to come in and affect the opportunities of Bahamians in the financial services sector, they can,ﾔ he said.
He said The Bahamas Bar could not allow ﾓwilly nillyﾔ anyone who wanted to come into the jurisdiction to practice without first ensuring they are qualified to practice at the bar.ﾔ
Further, Bahamian citizens, under the constitution, are free to obtain the best legal advice that money can buy. Where they have sought the services of legal experts from outside the jurisdiction, the appropriate presentation is made to the Bahamas Bar, usually by a Bahamian attorney and once the Bar is convinced that ﾓjustice requiresﾔ their services, the
The Bahama Journal
