John Rolle, Financial Secretary, speaking at today’s e-Government and Business Forum, Sheraton Hotel, Nassau Bahamas. (Photo ©Dupuch/Harry Cutting)

The government has committed to moving key functions online in a bid to streamline business in The Bahamas and ensure the jurisdiction retains its competitive edge.

Businesses and citizens were invited to attend an e-Government & Business Forum at the Sheraton, Nassau March 21, during which representatives from various government departments, including the Ministry of Finance and the Department of Information Technology, were on hand to answer queries and outline the government’s strategy.

Financial secretary in the Ministry of Finance John A Rolle said that The Bahamas was slipping in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report , which ranked the country as 77 out of 185 countries in 2013, and 71 in 2012. He noted that The Bahamas had to stay ahead of the curve to improve its score, saying: “It does not mean we are stagnant but it means we are not moving fast enough.”

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Bimini Bay Resort has begun dredging around the Alice Town dock and constructing a new cruise ship terminal in preparation for large vessels pulling into harbor from nearby Florida.

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Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder said March 19 that the multi-sectoral European Partnership Agreement (EPA) stakeholder consultation is imperative in the development of a national EPA Implementation Work Plan by The Bahamas.

“This implementation plan is inextricably intertwined with the establishment of a dedicated National EPA Implementation Unit who will hold the mandate to bring to fruition our agreed obligations to the Economic Partnership Agreement,” Minister Pinder said at the opening session of the consultation at the British Colonial Hilton.

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Prime Minister Perry Christie has said that the government is firmly committed to an “aggressive plan to transform the Bahamian economy and society for the benefit of all Bahamians.”

“Our Charter for Governance sets out, in detail, the various initiatives that we will implement during the course of our mandate in pursuit of those overriding objectives,” the Prime Minister said during his contribution to the 2012/2013 Mid-year Budget Statement in the House of Assembly March 18, 2013.

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Both Recurrent Expenditure and Capital Expenditure were in line with budget projections at the mid-point of this 2012/2013 fiscal year, Prime Minister Perry Christie said.

“The fiscal slippage this year has absolutely nothing to do with so-called ‘over-spending’ and everything to do with revenue performance related to emerging developments of the tax base,” Prime Minister Christie said.

The Prime Minister was presenting his contribution to the 2012/2013 Mid-year Budget Statement in the House of Assembly March 18, 2013.

He said at the mid-point of the fiscal year, the government had to address that fiscal slippage for the sake of maintaining and, to the greatest extent possible, bolstering confidence in The Bahamas as an attractive investment locale and strengthening prospects for economic growth.

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The Bahamas hosted an Oil Spill Prevention Workshop this week in Nassau, drawing industry experts and representatives from around the world.
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Jacksonville, FL (PRWEB) March, 2013 — To better meet growing demand in the Caribbean, Crowley Maritime Corporation’s liner services group has announced that it will now offer ocean-freight customers a second weekly southbound sailing from Port Everglades, Florida., to Nassau, Bahamas, starting Saturday, March 23. The new sailing enhances Crowley’s current schedule, which includes a Friday sailing from Jacksonville, Florida, and a Tuesday sailing from Port Everglades.

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Chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority Ian Fair has outlined a series of significant business openings on Grand Bahama this year. These openings are expected to spur a new era of economic growth for the island.
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Principal of engineering firm Optimum Designs Ltd, 36-year-old Deshon Fox is one of a new breed of Bahamian entrepreneurs that is realizing potential in their homeland.

After graduating from Florida International University in 2000 with a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, Deshon returned home to work in the office of George V Cox as a structural analyst.

A year later, he moved on to the office of Basil McIntosh for a brief stint working as a structural analyst before beginning post graduate engineering studies at the University of Minnesota. In 2004, Fox graduated from with a Master’s degree in civil engineering.
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Cabinet ministers and high-ranking representatives from Customs, Labour, Finance and other government departments and agencies will be on hand when the Ministry of Finance hosts its first ever E-government and Business Forum March 21 from 9am-12pm at the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort Independence Ballroom A.

The forum, which is free and open to the public, is being held to review benefits of conducting business through the government’s portal, what government is doing to modernize services through technology, and to provide for inclusiveness of businesses in the process.
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