Bahamas Ambassador to CARICOM Picewell Forbes pays courtesy call on Barbados Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Maxine McClean at her Ministry, January 23. (Photo courtesy of Barbados Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade)

Pictured: (left to right) Mr. Ian Rolle, GBPA President; Mrs. Joy Jibrilu, Director of Investments, BIA; Minister of State for Investment in the Ministry of Finance, the Hon. Khaalis Rolle; Mrs. Ginger Moxey, GBPA VP; Mrs. Julie Campbell, Deputy Permanent Secretary, BIA and Mr. Graham Torode, CEO DEVCO.

Executives at The Grand Bahama Port Authority, Limited (GBPA), are taking advantage of every opportunity to promote the benefits of Grand Bahama Island in 2013. This week, Ian Rolle, GBPA President, Mr. Graham Torode, CEO of the Grand Bahama Development Company (DEVCO) along with Mrs. Ginger Moxey, GBPA Vice President, accompanied a 6 member team of officials from the Bahamas Investment Authority, including Minister of State for Investment in the Ministry of Finance, the Hon. Khaalis Rolle to the American Lodging & Investment Summit (ALIS).

This is an excerpt from thebahamasweekly.com as it appeared on January 24, 2013. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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The Dow just made another post-financial crisis rally high. To provide some further perspective to the current Dow rally, all major market rallies of the last 112 years are plotted on today’s chart. Each dot represents a major stock market rally as measured by the Dow with the majority of rallies referred to by a label which states the year in which the rally began. For today’s chart, a rally is being defined as an advance that follows a 30% decline (i.e. a major bear market). As today’s chart illustrates, the Dow has begun a major rally 13 times over the past 112 years which equates to an average of one rally every 8.6 years. It is also interesting to note that the duration and magnitude of each rally correlated fairly well with the linear regression line (gray upward sloping line). As it stands right now, the current Dow rally that began in March 2009 (blue dot labeled you are here) would be classified as well below average in both duration and magnitude. However, when compared to the most recent post-major bear market rally (i.e. the rally that began in 2002), the current rally has already surpassed it in magnitude and required less time to do so.

This is an excerpt from Chart of the Day as it appeared on January 24, 2013. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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Pictured: Bertha Cooper-Rousseau, chair, The Bahamas Branch of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. (Photo courtesy Bahamas Branch of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators)

With the legislative framework in place, retooling Bahamian professionals with the skill sets needed for arbitration is fundamental for The Bahamas to become a successful international arbitration hub in the region, according to the Bahamas Branch of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb).

To this end in March 2013, the branch will launch a strategic training agenda with the goal of producing internationally recognized accredited arbitrators and mediators within five years.

“This will create the platform for the continuation of the government’s national mandate to establish The Bahamas as an International Commercial Arbitration Center,” said Bertha Cooper-Rousseau, chairperson of The Bahamas Branch of CIArb.

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RBC Royal Bank has announced its sponsorship of the upcoming 41st Bahamas Red Cross Ball.

A donation was made to commemorate the 26th Anniversary of the RBC Cable Beach Branch.

RBC is a platinum sponsor of the Red Cross Ball and the sponsorship includes funding for organizing the Red Cross Ball, public relations and marketing support and the purchase of a table.

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Robin Erickson, specialist leader, human capital, Deloitte Consulting LLP, will be a featured speaker at the upcoming International Business & Finance Summit (IBFS) in Bimini.

Hosted by the Bahamas Financial Services Board (BFSB), and celebrating its 10th anniversary, IBFS 2013 is being hosted under the general theme: The Bahamas Advantage: Staying Ahead of the Game.

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Business news this week includes the launch of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s Small Business Seminar initiative and the 6 per cent spike in visitor arrivals last year.
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Minister of the Environment Kenred Dorsett told reporters yesterday that the recent oil spill in the Grand Bahama area has been contained and the clean up is nearing completion.
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Overview: Economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean region slowed sharply in 2012, making the region the second slowest performer, after developing Europe and Central Asia, amongst all developing regions of the world. A weak external environment and a contraction in domestic demand were largely responsible for a tepid regional GDP growth estimated at 3 percent in 2012 (4.3 percent in 2011). Growth in Brazil, the region’s largest economy, decelerated markedly to an estimated 0.9 percent in 2012, from an already-modest 2.7 percent in 2011, while Argentina’s economic growth contracted to 2 percent, from 8.9 percent the previous year. The slowdown was modest in Central America and the Caribbean, while growth in Mexico, the region’s second largest economy, remained robust expanding by an estimated 4 percent in 2012 despite its strong links to the fledgling US economy. Elsewhere in the region, growth was relatively buoyant, albeit weaker than 2011. Chile posted a brisk performance with growth estimated at 5.8 percent in 2012, as did Panama (10 percent), and Peru (6.3 percent).

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Here follows remarks by Prime Minister Perry Christie at the retirement reception in honour of J Barrie Farrington at Virgil’s restaurant, Atlantis Paradise Island, January 21:

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