The Bahamas Investor

...identify best practices and knowledge to improve the quality of government services and, therefore, increase citizen satisfaction,” said Thompson. The executive training exposed Thompson and Delancy to Estonia’s achievements in e-government services. In Estonia, 99 per cent of government services are online and available 24/7. They provide citizens with services such as schooling, banking, police, health, tax, business and voting. Estonia is consi......

...ssential inter-island connections and acted as the principal funding agent for mailboat services and more. “This kind of facilitation translates into wealth creation, job creation, increased exports and reduced imports, thus transforming and growing our economy,” he noted. Today, the bank continues to act as a catalyst for economic development providing loan funding for small and medium Bahamian enterprises through partnerships with the Small Busi......

...Facility, which is expected to be completed by mid 2013, will pave the way for specialised medical services to become available in the area and bring highly trained staff to the Family Island. Speaking at the groundbreaking and contract signing ceremony, Minister of Health Dr Hubert A Minnis said: “Through the Public Hospitals Authority, the facility will provide improvements and advancements in tele-medicine and tele-radiology for this area; it w......

...al government as it transitions to accrual accounting and undergoes public financial management reform; 15 of them will be trained specifically to join the VAT audit team. He went on to emphasize the need to abide by the principles of “transparency, integrity and accountability in the ordinary course of business”, and that The Bahamas’ “needs tools to shape an ethical culture and to hold people accountable when they do not operate according to pol......

...reasing number of Bahamians in specialized skills. The Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministers responsible for Tourism, Immigration and Labour are actively pursuing with Sandals suitable arrangements for further expansion of this corporate facility.” Prime Minister Christie added that in Cat Island, San Salvador, Norman’s Cay and Leaf Cay, negotiations are favourably advancing for additional resort developments which should commence by year......

...o, quite critically, the medium fiscal challenges that confront us,” Prime Minister Christie said. “For, perhaps unprecedented in the history of our nation, the government put forward a detailed four-year fiscal plan, through to the 2016/17 fiscal year, that will eliminate the GFS Deficit, return the Recurrent Account to surplus and both reverse the ongoing upward progression of the debt-to-GDP ratio and put it on a steady downward path back to le......

...Rule Day a national holiday. Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis; Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration Fred Mitchell; Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe; other Members of Parliament; Senators; senior government officials; Dame Marguerite Pindling; and co-chair, National Independence Committee, Charles Carter attended the launch. The Prime Minister said the theme for the year of celebrations would be “The Bridge to the Future… The Journey......

...ent interface.” These range from the adoption of a modern e-government platform for a number of government programmes and services, to reform programmes designed to make key government agencies more customer-friendly, while improving access to services. So far, efforts have been made in the areas of customs, business licences, real property tax and overall tax administration, said Halkitis. Looking ahead, growth in domestic economic activity is pr......

...en it comes to investing in infrastructure at this time, notes the Cabinet Minister. “When Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest returned from England he shared with me the massive infrastructural works that are taking place there. Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has been to New Hampshire and says they are engaged in serious infrastructure programmes there also,”?continues Grant. “Zhivargo Laing, Minister of State for Finance, has been to A......

...18, with, (from left) writer Patricia Glinton-Meicholas; Baha Mar president Graeme Davis; The Counsellors Ltd president Joan Albury; and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)......

...age greater use of the free movement of skills, as it ensures levels of comfort for families. However, The Bahamas remains a non-participant in the CARICOM SME. Prime Minister Minnis returned to The Bahamas July 7. Pictured: Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis (right), President of Haiti (left) Jovenel Moise and (centre) Bahamas Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield at the 39th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Cari......

...(left), and project manager Tanya Murray. (Photo courtesy BIS) Minister of Financial Services, Trade and Industry, and Immigration Brent Symonette and ministry staff attended The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP ) Miami Annual Summit June 1 in Miami, Florida. Minister Symonette and ministry delegates engaged fellow attendees on topics with respect to investing and doing business in The Bahamas. The summit attracted approximately 300......

...r 9. (BIS Photo/Gena Gibbs) “As Sandy [Robert Sands of Baha Mar] pointed out, we understand there is a skills gap; we understand that more has to be done. But it’s not a single sector’s problem,” he said. The Minister noted that the Prime Minister recently announced there will be a national training initiative launching soon and the person to head that training initiative has already been selected.......

...ld play as facilitator for economic development, and laying the foundation for opportunities for our citizens, collaboration between the government and BICA is critical,” he said. The Prime Minister said that a primary objective of his government is the introduction of meaningful and accountable fiscal responsibility, which is evidenced by the tabling of Fiscal Responsibility legislation in the House of Assembly. He said that in order to ensure ac......

...ses the 11th Meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in Uruguay November 20. (Photos courtesy BIS) Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest is attending the 11th Meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in Punta Del Este, Uruguay November 20-22. Turnquest was invited to participate in a high-level panel discussion on the “Role of T......