The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Perry Christie said yesterday that during his recent trip to China he had effectively called for a “new paradigm” relative to the number of Chinese labourers involved in Chinese-led projects and developments in The Bahamas, noting that projects such as the British Colonial Hilton would call for a majority Bahamian workforce.

Mr Christie, who gave the keynote address at the Bahamas Business Outlook at the Melia Nassau Beach Resort, said that he had negotiated such an arrangement directly with the Chinese president Xi Jinping during a meeting in China earlier this month.

“I directly negotiated with the president of China a new paradigm saying please let your companies know that when we agree on a different kind of equation of Chinese to Bahamian labour,” said Mr Christie.

China State Construction closed the purchase of the British Colonial Hilton in October and now plans to develop the adjacent six-acre property on its western side into a luxury hotel and condominium unit. The project will reportedly create 250 construction jobs and 500 permanent jobs for Bahamians. A further 500 jobs in the retail, marina village, marina and boardwalk, restaurant, gym, movie theatre and nightclub components will be created.

The Prime Minister said yesterday that China State would move its construction force from Baha Mar to begin work at the Hilton. He stressed however that the difference between the Baha Mar and the Hilton projects was the agreement he had reached with the Chinese president on the workforce equation, which he said would be at least 70 per cent Bahamian.