The Tribune

By CELESTE NIXON

Tribune Staff Reporter

cnixon@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Virtual Platform, set to be launch in early 2013, will be “revolutionary for the Bahamas and Bahamian goods,” BAIC chairman Arnold Forbes said.

Mr Forbes said the virtual platform project seeks to strengthen and diversify the Bahamian arts and crafts industry by making products easily accessible through an on-line marketplace.

“We are presently in the process of bringing on-line the Bahamas Virtual Platform, which will expose these artisans to the world,” he said.

While Mr Forbes could not reveal the cost of project, he said that only authentic Bahamian goods will be sold.

The goal is to help strengthen the local handicraft industry through the use of modern technology that will allow Bahamian products to be sold to international consumers, he said.

Speaking about the importance of teaching trades to Bahamians, particularly in the Family Islands, Mr Forbes said the project will increase demand for this type of training because residents from across the country will be able to sell their goods through a warehouse system on-line, similar to Ebay.

He said: “That is important in a major way because it brings foreign currency into the Bahamas when these people are still sitting in their homes in those islands; it is not depleting the island were everyone has to move to the capital to make a living.

“So we need to expand it and get our people involved in it, in particular those in remote islands who might be struggling to make a living doing other things – this is a way to create employment.”

BAIC partnered with the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce on this project, which is being sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.