Chairman of the Financial Services Consultative Forum Brian Moree was on Sunday forced to defend a controversial report examining the impact the long-standing Bahamianization policy is having on the countryﾴs number two sector.
The report is calling for the liberalization of the governmentﾴs immigration policy, but it makes no reference to the need to train Bahamians to become qualified for jobs expatriates would be brought in to fill.
ﾓAt the moment our concern is that weﾴre stuck in a rut, that weﾴre treading water and in order to break out of this rut and to stimulate significant growth, we are going to have to make some philosophical decisions about some of these matters,ﾒ said Mr. Moree, who was a guest on the Love 97 programme ﾓJones and Companyﾒ.
The showﾴs host, Wendall Jones, asked Mr. Moree why the report included no reference to the training of Bahamians.
ﾓThat is because we were not asked to put in this report how to protect Bahamians,ﾒ the forumﾴs chairman explained. ﾓWe were asked in this report to provide an assessment of the [Bahamization] policy on the financial services sector.ﾒ
That response triggered a fiery exchange between Mr. Jones and Mr. Moree, a familiar voice on the popular programme.
Mr. Moree insisted, ﾓThis is a report that was responsive to our terms of reference.ﾒ
But Mr. Jones fired back, ﾓI put it to you like they do in court that you did not satisfy certain important aspects of your terms of reference.ﾒ
Mr. Moree, however, rejected that submission.
ﾓWe were not addressing how to secure Bahamians in the sector,ﾒ he said. ﾓWe were asked to address whether there was a need to reappraise the way in which the Bahamianization policy is being implemented with specific reference to the financial services sector. Thatﾴs all weﾴve done.ﾒ
The report from the immigration sub-committee of the government-appointed forum, said that a protectionist immigration policy is stymieing the growth of the financial services sector.
The chairman said that there is an inherent tension between this policy and the need to grow the sector.
ﾓIn my view, one can coalesce some sort of consensus in those two issues, but you have to recognize that at face value, there is a tension between those two issues,ﾒ he said.
Mr. Moree said it is not the intention of the forum to advocate preferential treatment for expatriates, but he said a realistic and sensible approach must be taken to the issue of immigration as it relates to the sector.
ﾓWe acknowledge that qualified, experienced Bahamian employees should be preferentially treated for jobs that they are qualified to do,ﾒ he stressed.
ﾓWe are not talking about taking away those jobs. What we are trying to analyze in an objective, mature and sensible way is whether, given the dynamics of this sector in 2004, we need to look at supplementing our labour force in certain strategic areas. We say that if that is done judiciously and properly it is actually going to produce more jobs for Bahamians.ﾒ
The report also calls for greater involvement in the sector of foreign lawyers.
It was a point that also created a lively debate on the show.
ﾓNo one is suggesting the wholesale importation of foreign lawyers or expatriate professionals,ﾒ Mr. Moree said.
ﾓWhat we are saying is that we need now to at least look at the need to bring in for short periods of time highly specialized professionals in certain areas where we donﾴt have the talent here and if weﾴre going to do that on a basis which is going to promote the industry, [there] would have to be a change to the existing immigration policy.ﾒ
He added that the need for expatriate involvement in retail banking is nowhere as great as in specialty areas like capital markets, securitizations or derivative work or in complicated offshore captive insurance work.
ﾓOne of the problems weﾴve had in this country with our financial services sector is that it has taken us too long to react to developments in other jurisdictions,ﾒ Mr. Moree said.
He also said that authorities in The Bahamas need to make a decision regarding whether or not they truly want the financial services sector to be highly competitive.
ﾓAll weﾴre saying is that if we are going to compete with other jurisdictions, we donﾴt have time to spend training our local lawyers for five years before we can get any business because by the time weﾴre ready, the business has gone elsewhere,ﾒ he said.
ﾓWe do not feel given all the information that we have and given the cross-section of persons who were involved on this committee that The Bahamas can produce on a consistent basis enough qualified specialists in all of the areas of the sector in order for us to compete.ﾒ
Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
