If the Bahamas decides not to join the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, the country would not be isolationist, according to financial services expert Gilbert Morris, who addressed the Bahamas Investment Conference 2002 at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel Saturday.
Mr. Morris indicated that as the Bahamas is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties – meaning there are no nuclear warheads here – there would be no reason to fear not joining on that account.
But he stressed that if the Bahamas were to sign on to the agreement, which at present is still just a draft proposal, it would have much work to do to bring itself in line with the operations of 21st Century businesses.
"The things we have chosen to worry about, land sales, bricks and mortar investments show that we are outside the framework of 21st Century business imagination," Mr. Morris said. "They are really 19th Century business models, while the rest of the world is operating in 21st Century systems of development. We are off on the wrong track in that regard."
The Conference, hosted by The Counsellor's Ltd., brought together financial service experts and economists, industry achievers and everyday Bahamians for discussion.
"The reason we may not wish to be part of the FTAA is because it is a trading co-op, and in the general sense in relation to this economy, we do not have much to trade," he said. "We can bring people here and sell them things, we can sell know how, but FTAA would compromise our ability to do that."
But by implementing e-commerce more actively in the process, such as for tax collection, The Bahamas could become more viable, he opined, noting that Singapore and Estonia have been operating this way for some 20 years. In those two countries, a customer arrives at the dock with a merchant card and an electronic manifest. One copy goes to the Treasury Department, another to the Customs Department. Taxes are then assessed against the decline in inventory, which is also electronic, he explained.
By applying such a mode of operation, the tax issue would not necessarily be a "real issue," he said.
The fruition of the FTAA agreement would result in an $11 trillion market, with 800 million people.
But $10 trillion of the capital would belong to the United States , and 200 million of those people would still be living on less than $2 per day, he said.
Some people in attendance expressed fears about the FTAA representing the Americanisation of the region.
Mr. Morris agreed, but he said there is "nothing wrong with that," and America has always behaved that way.
What is more important, he said, is to decide whether the Bahamas wishes to achieve a liberalization or a harmonisation co-op with America .
A liberalization co-op would allow for barriers to be let down for the import and export of only select products and services, while a harmonization co-op would mean there are free flow borders.
"Poorer countries will lose out very badly if that distinction is not made," Mr. Morris said.
By Felicity Delancy, The Bahama Journal
