The Tribune

By Morgan Adderley

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

DEPUTY Prime Minister K Peter Turnquest has said that concerns over World Trade Organisation ascension are being “exaggerated,” further asserting that the government would work to “protect” the interests of local businesses.

Mr Turnquest made these remarks on the sidelines of the 2018 Boxing Day Parade, when he also addressed his hopes for the country for the New Year, the country’s unemployment rate 10 years after the Great Recession, and legislative requirements for the European Union and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Minnis administration is pushing for the Bahamas to become a full WTO member state by the end of 2019. However, the topic of WTO ascension has been a source of debate in the nation, with many activist groups campaigning against it.

When asked specifically about concerns that the privatisation that accompanies WTO ascension will hurt Bahamians, Mr Turnquest directly addressed and attempted to assuage the anxiety of the retail sector.

“I think the negotiating team has been very diligent about making sure that we protect the local Bahamian manufacturer,” he said.

“In the retail sector, first off, you’re not (going to) find that the large box retailers that people are talking about are (going to) come to The Bahamas, for instance, because the population is just not big enough to justify that.

“So I think the fears about that is probably a little bit exaggerated,” he continued. “We do recognise that there will be some service providers who they want to come into the market. But at the end of the day, The Bahamas still has the right to determine who it wants to allow into its local domestic economy.

“And the government of The Bahamas will always be mindful of what affects any new entrant, foreign entrant in particular, will have on the local businessperson, and ensure that we protect those interests as best we can.”

The deputy prime minister also said the government believes it “has done everything that (it) had to do” to satisfy the demands of the EU and OECD.

“There are still some matters with respect to now give an affect to the laws that we have already passed and we’ll be working on that through the end of the year, so that come January 1, we will meet all their requirements that they’ve put forward to us,” he added. “So at this point we believe that we’ve done everything that we need to do. We’re sitting in a pretty good position and we’ll see what happens at the end of the year.”

Mr Turnquest also discussed the unemployment rate in The Bahamas, which still stands in the double digits, ten years after the Great Recession. Meanwhile the unemployment rate in the United States is under four percent.

When asked if this represents a new normal for the country, Mr Turnquest said no. “No, not really,” he replied. “I think there’s obviously been a transition. Whenever the (United States) turns around or starts to grow, there’s a lag.

“And so, as we see investments start to come, our unemployment will start to decrease. But there is normally a lag between the US economic growth and our numbers. So it’s not unusual.

“However, we will never be able to match the pace of the unemployment growth in the US, just because of the size of the economy. But again, you should see the trends start to more align in the next year as we go forward and as the economic effects in the US start to take affect and people have the confidence to invest offshore.”

In July, it was reported that the country’s unemployment stands at ten percent — a fractional decrease when compared with November 2017’s rate of 10.1 percent.

At the time, Mr Turnquest conceded that the Minnis administration still has a lot of work to do to ensure every Bahamian has the opportunity to earn a decent living.

During the Junkanoo parade, Mr Turnquest also mentioned his hopes for the country for the New Year.

“We recognise that there’s still a lot of work to be done in order to uplift the Bahamian people, to assure that they can realise their goals and aspirations,” he said. “It’s been a difficult two years as we try to turn around our situation…. We’re making significant progress, we believe that the works that we’ve done over the last two years will start to manifest in 2019 and hopefully that will translate to the average Bahamian, to be able to find new jobs or the career of their choice and be able to take care of their families and (really start) forward progress in terms of overall economic activity.

“So we’re looking forward to reaping some of the hard work that we’ve done.”