The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas is now targeing Asia as a growth market for this nation’s financial service offerings, and hopes to match its Latin America success by becoming the Far East’s regional centre of choice.

Ryan Pinder, minister of financial services, said yesterday that the Government was hoping to replicate the success the Bahamas had enjoyed in Latin America with a relaunch in the Asian market.

“We have planned a trip to Asia where we will be visiting Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing,” he said. “We see Asia as a growth market and really want to establish ourselves as the jurisdiction of choice in Latin America, which we have been very successful at.

“We have decided this year that we will relaunch into Asia, certainly given the growth that the Asian economy has witnessed. Certainly with Baha Mar coming on stream, and they are one of our lead sponsors in this initiative, we thought this was a good time for the financial service relaunch into the Asia market.”

Mr Pinder added: “As part of that we are participating in five different events in China. We have two Bahamas specific events, Landfall events, one in Hong Kong and one in Beijing.

“We are sponsors of STEP Asia, which is in Hong Kong. Baha Mar is hosting a private, exclusive event in Hong Kong as well as part of the package to be able to launch the Bahamian brand in Hong Kong.

“It’s a two-week series of events, and we hope with private meetings and the events that we are participating in we will relaunch the Bahamas in China, and the Bahamas will be on its way to being the international financial centre of choice for China.”

The Financial Services minister acknowledged that this was no easy goal to achieve. “We go up against the British Virgin Island, which is really the dominant brand in this hemisphere in Asia,” Mr Pinder said.

“It is a difficult proposition. Certain financial centres, such as the BVI, are entrenched, and then you have Singapore and Hong Kong as financial centres in Asia.

“We do, however, see a trend in China of private clients looking to diversify internationally beyond Asia and into this hemisphere with some of their planning. We also see a trend of Chinese entrepreneurs investing in the Americas, and we see the Bahamas as the perfect investment hub for those activities. We are optimistic that we will be able to lay the foundation for the Bahamas as the financial centre of choice.”