Here follows remarks by Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis during the Second Reading of the Value Added Tax Bill 2014 in the House of Assembly August 19, 2014. The following is reproduced verbatim:

Mr. Speaker,
I wish at this time to move for second reading and committal of the Value Added Tax Bill.

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Three years after the first revival of Bahamas Speed Week, the government announced plans to build a major motorsports complex to be completed by 2016.

Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Dr Daniel Johnson used the first ever meeting of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) in The Bahamas this week as a platform to make the announcement of the $9 million complex that will serve as a multipurpose center, providing a facility for safe driving training for police, security and ambulance operators, recreational and racing cycling, recreational and competitive cycling, motorcycle sports, karting, even musical concerts and other events that create local and visitor attractions and opportunities.

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Joe Brunini, President of Global Marketing and Customer Development for the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel. (PRNewsFoto/Baha Mar)

NASSAU, The Bahamas, August 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Baha Mar, the $3.5 billion integrated destination gaming resort, today announced that Joe Brunini has been named President of Global Marketing and Customer Development for the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel. The crown jewel of the destination gaming resort, the Baha Mar Casino & Hotel will feature the largest casino in the Caribbean with 100,000 square feet of gaming space and a 1,000-room luxury hotel. Baha Mar’s Grand Opening celebration is scheduled for Spring 2015.

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Luxury retailer Breitling introduced a new $1,600 watch to its store offering last week. Watch an ZNS Network news interview with the Bay Street boutique’s general manager Nick Simmons.
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Whitney Thier, Vice President and General Counsel for Baha Mar. (PRNewsFoto/Baha Mar)

NASSAU, The Bahamas, August 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Baha Mar, the $3.5 billion integrated destination gaming resort, today announced that Whitney Thier has been named Executive Vice President and General Counsel, effective immediately.

Thier, who will report to Tom Dunlap, Baha Mar’s President, will lead the resort company’s legal team as well as assume a key role on the company’s executive committee. She succeeds Uri Clinton, who joined Baha Mar in 2011 and has chosen to relocate with his family back to Las Vegas. Thier joins the company at an important juncture, as Baha Mar completes its construction phase and readies itself for its highly anticipated Grand Opening in Spring 2015.

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Pictured: Breitling VP (Caribbean) Mauricio Diaz. (Photo Harry Cutting/©Dupuch)

On Thursday evening last week luxury watch retailer Breitling celebrated the grand re-opening of its Nassau store, one of its first boutiques to be established in the Western Hemisphere and rated within the top five of major cities around the world, according to the Swiss manufacturer.

“We present a premier collection of timepieces not seen anywhere else in the world, but only in the major capitals where we have boutiques,” said Breitling’s vice president Mauricio Diaz on August 18 moments before opening the store, which showcases new, exclusive models just launched at the Basel World watch fair this year in Switzerland.

“Once again we make history by making this presentation of these new timepieces in The Bahamas.”

Top movers and shakers were invited to the event, which saw a portion of the capital’s busiest thoroughfare, Bay Street, closed to traffic.

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Nassau Airport Development Co chief executive officer Vernice Walkine says that the Lynden Pindling International Airport operator is working to maintain the level of services and reduce debt at the country’s primary international airport.
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Haitian President Michel Martelly paid a courtesy call on the new governor general Dame Marguerite Pindling this week during his official visit to The Bahamas.
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Disney Cruise Lines has shot a commercial in Nassau to be aired in India. Take a behind the scenes look at the filming here.
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