The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Financial Services is looking to expand its Investment Condominium Fund (ICON) product in Mexico, a key government minister noting that the ministry was working to create new products to take advantage of new and emerging markets.

Speaking outside Cabinet office yesterday, Hope Strachan, the minister responsible, acknowledged that the job losses in the financial services sector, which were highlighted in a recently released Labour Force Survey, were a cause for concern. “We in the Ministry of Financial Services have been working diligently over the last several months toward the creation of new products and to take advantage of new markets. We are heavily into the Latin American market and marketing the ICON,” said Mrs Strachan.

The ICON was launched to more than 200 Brazilian fund advisors at Bahamas Landfall: Destination Brazil events in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo last year. The ICON is a fund that has been specifically designed to replicate the Brazilian condominium, the structure that all of Brazil’s near 13,000 funds use.

“We have had several trips to Latin America, Brazil in particular,” Mrs Strachan said. “We are looking to expand that offering into the Mexican market. We have had meetings with the tax authority over there and we are waiting to hear from the tax authorities there to find out how that product will fit into their economy and how it will be affected by their tax laws. We are waiting to hear on that and we are hoping that will be positive and we will able to expand into the Mexican market.”

She added: “We are also looking at Asia. We have trips, promotional activities which are planned for November when we will be going to China, Shanghai and Beijing to promote The Bahamas as a very strong destination for financial services.”

Referring to the The Labour Force and Household Income Survey compiled by the Department of Statistics which noted that workers employed in the “finance, insurance, real estate and other business service sectors experienced the greatest job loss, with 36 per cent - 4,447 jobs”, Mrs Strachan said: “It is a concern for the sector to have that amount of job losses.”

She noted that there have been closures of several branches among the commercial banks in recent months, outsourcing of certain functions as well as lay-offs within the private banking sector over the past several months. “The statistics brought to light the impact of it and it is a concern to us,” said Mrs Strachan.

“The ultimate goal is for Bahamian people to have jobs and to have jobs in this important industry. We know that the income derived from this industry is usually on the higher end. This is how we build our middle income sector. The importance of it cannot be understated.”