The Tribune

THE 20th Grand Bahama Business Outlook conference will focus on how to revive the island's economy when it is held at the Grand Lucayan resort tomorrow.

Joan Albury, president of The Counsellors (TCL), and founder of the seven-island Business Outlook series, said she had high hopes that this year's speakers will help identify solutions to end Grand Bahama's 10-year economic decline.

"They will come with deep knowledge of Grand Bahama's economy, the nation's economy and global developments and trends," Mrs Albury said. "The information that our Outlook speakers will provide will enable businesses in Grand Bahama to plan, organise and strategise for a more productive and prosperous future."

K P Turnquest, deputy prime minister and minister of finance, will be the keynote speaker. Zhivago Laing, radio talk show host of Z Live: Off The Record, will moderate the day-long conference and give the 'Vision' presentation.

Other speakers will include: Senator Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for Grand Bahama; Mick Holding, president, Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce; Ian Rolle, president, Grand Bahama Port Authority; Bahamas Power and Light's (BPL) chief operating officer, Christina Alston; KPMG's head of management for consulting and data analytics, Dennis D Deveaux; Erica Paine, partner and head of Graham Thompson's Grand Bahama office; Charlene Lewis-Small, lead investment officer, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Paul Wynn, chief executive, the Wynn Group; and Andre Knowles, BTC's chief commercial officer.

"What I am going to be talking about first of all is what might be the ingredients of that vision for Grand Bahama," Mr Laing said. "What is it about that place that we could actually be seeking to pursue?

"And then I am going to delve into some possibilities in relation to the strategy for actually seeing that vision come to pass. The question for Grand Bahama remains: 'Are we sowing the right kind of seeds that produces the kind of harvest to create this world-class Grand Bahama that we desire?'

"I believe at the Business Outlook, based on the speakers I know and the topics they are presenting, we are going to get a fairly clear answer to that question."

BPL's Mrs Alston said her presentation will be centred around the Bahamas' energy supply, and how to reduce its carbon footprint according to global standards.

"We feel that we are an intrinsic part of the ingredient that is needed to facilitate business development, and that is providing the right infrastructure," Mr Knowles said of BTC. "I will be speaking about the smart city concept; how we are able to utilise the new on-going infrastructure that businesses require."

KPMG's Mr Deveaux said there were three important issues he plans to share at the Outlook to assist businesses in connecting with foreign investors, especially on the digital level.

"…We want to advise primarily from the viewpoint of industry with the view to demystify and de-cloud this whole concept of digital [business], and outline some very actionable things that can be done to help businesses in Grand Bahama leveraging all of the developments around digital to grow," he added.