The government has signed a $90-million agreement with Sand and Ocean Investments Co to construct a five-star, 125-room boutique hotel and condo development on San Salvador.
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The inaugural Gaming Caribbean Forum got underway at Atlantis Paradise Island yesterday, with 180 industry stakeholders from around the region attending. Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe gave the opening address.
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Chairman and founder of Sandals International Butch Stewart says the Sandals resort in Exuma is one of the most comprehensive all-inclusive resort in the world. Watch an interview with Stewart here.
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The Grand Bahama Island Tourism Board (GBITB) intends to invest heavily in marketing and promotion next year, as it works to build the Grand Bahama brand and encourage investment in the island.

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Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell lead a trade delegation on a trip to Dubai at the end of last week in an effort to encourage investment in The Bahamas. Watch a ZNS Network news report here.

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Prince Rahming, territory senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, has been elected as the new chairman of the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB), replacing Paul Winder.

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Rosewood Hotels & Resorts named Virgil Napier as director of sales and marketing for the new Rosewood property at the Bahamas’ Baha Mar resort, scheduled to open in December 2014.

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The inaugural meeting of the National Anti-money Laundering Task Force was held October 23 at the Office of the Attorney General.

The Task Force comprises stakeholders representing the public and private sectors, policy makers and regulators. Stephen Thompson, Inspector at the Compliance Commission, is the coordinator.

Senator Allyson Maynard-Gibson, Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, welcomed the members of the Task Force and expressed pride in the appointment of a coordinator and the launch of the project.

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Minister of Transportation and Aviation Glenys Hanna-Martin delivered an address at the official opening of the final stage of the redevelopment of the Lynden Pindling International Airport last week. Watch excerpts from her speech here.
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Pictured: Financial Secretary John Rolle explains VAT at a previous forum. (BIS Photo/Gena Gibbs)

Legislation concerning the proposed new value added tax (VAT) regime is “imminent,” according to Financial Secretary John Rolle, who said yesterday that the government was “sensitive” to the business community’s impatience to see the regulation, and promised that it would be made public “very soon”.

Speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCECC), Rolle said widespread tax reform was necessary in The Bahamas to address the widening gap between the government’s expenditure and its revenue.

“The issue is not one of VAT. This is an issue about needing to reform public finances for the great good of the economy,” he said. “We have a tax system that is skewed too much towards goods.”

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