The Tribune

US Embassy officials have visited Grand Bahama to help prepare their forthcoming ‘Investment Climate Guide for the Bahamas’.

To assist this process, Alexander Sokoloff, the US Embassy’s policy and economic chief, met with Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) officials.

The GBPA president, Ian Rolle, praised the embassy and Mr Sokoloff for their initiative in visiting Grand Bahama for onsite familiarisation.

“We are pleased to welcome you,” he said. “Due to its unique features, Freeport offers substantial benefits to potential investors. Our proximity to the US mainland, modern infrastructure, and free trade zone put us in a very enviable position.”

Mr Sokoloff said preparation of the Investment Guide is specifically mandated by Congress. “It basically looks at the ease of doing business in a certain jurisdiction. Are there any obstacles to investments; are all investors treated equally; and what is the overall investment climate per se,” he revealed.

“We haven’t done as much on Freeport by itself in the past, but in preparing this report we wanted to expand on focused areas for investment and gross opportunities.”

Mr Rolle said general industries include: Trade, tourism, technology, real estate and energy, with particular focus on developing related types of businesses or clusters.

Citing the arrival of Island Outsourcers’ new call centre and the soon to be opened Okyanos Heart Institute, Mr Rolle added that the present business climate in Grand Bahama was ripe with opportunity, with a major resurgence close at hand.

These face-to-face discussions were a follow-up to earlier meetings with embassy officials in Nassau, where GBPA executives were given an opportunity to showcase an ‘Invest Grand Bahama’ presentation earlier this year.