The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An ex-investment minister says the government must turn promises of fast-track approvals into reality to give The Bahamas "a fighting chance of avoiding economic catastrophe".

Khaalis Rolle, who held the post in the former Christie administration, told Tribune Business that the government now needed to show "the same action, vigour and ability" demonstrated in implementing and enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown when it came to moving investment projects from pipeline to reality.

Calling on all ministries and agencies involved in the investment approvals process to "dig deep" and shed their reputation for being "notoriously slow moving", Mr Rolle said the officials running them needed to realise that their own jobs and income may soon depend on acting far more swiftly given the pandemic's disastrous impact on government revenues.

With tourism, The Bahamas' major employer and services export, likely to be shutdown for some months yet, the former minister argued that foreign direct investment (FDI)-related construction projects were likely to be one of the few foreign currency earnings sources in the short-term - something that was acknowledged by the Prime Minister in his national address yesterday.

Mr Rolle, now a senior executive with Sterling Global Financial, the $10bn Bahamas-headquartered asset manager headed by David Kosoy, indicated that it has several investment applications before government that it remains keen to press forward with - despite the uncertainty and likely deep recession associated with COVID-19 - once the necessary approvals are granted.

Declining to identify these projects, he added that the situation presented the Government and its agencies with "an opportunity to shine" by going beyond "lip service" to "shore up" investor confidence through turning oft-repeated promises of "fast track" approvals and a one-stop shop into reality.

"We're facing an economic catastrophe like the rest of the world," Mr Rolle told Tribune Business. "One of the benefits we have is that we're a destination people will always gravitate towards, and we have to make it easier for investors to pursue their investments.

"It cannot be lip service at this juncture. We have to demonstrate activity. The Government has to demonstrate they're prepared to move things through the system very quickly and give the business community a sign of confidence that they're on their side. That's the only way of giving ourselves a fighting chance of getting back to a new normal as quickly as possible."

Dr Hubert Minnis yesterday indicated that the Government seems to understand the link between rapid investment approvals and bolstering job creation and foreign exchange earnings during The Bahamas' hour of economic need.

Reiterating previous pledges, he said: "As our tourism sector may not be fully restored for some time, the economy will also have to aggressively attract other sources of foreign exchange. Priority will be given to expedited processing of foreign investment proposals that could generate such inflows, and stimulate construction activity."

The Prime Minister added that the Government is also mulling "a streamlined approach for reviewing lower value applications that now go to the National Economic Council (NEC or Cabinet) for approval" in a bid to speed up the approvals process for certain projects, although no benchmark value was given.

Mr Rolle, though, indicated that these promises have yet to take effect where the $250m Hurricane Hole redeveloper is concerned. The Sterling Advisory Services president added: "I'm not going to signal the applications we have before the Government at this time, but all agencies are going to have to dig deep - the entire sector.

"It's the Government as a whole; Ministry of Works, Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, Investments Board, National Economic Council and Bahamas Investment Authority. All these entities have to move quickly to shore up the confidence investors may have thought they were losing because of the slow pace of investment approvals.

"The same action, activity and swift movement that they pursued to lock the country down is the same action, vigour and ability that they need to use to get investments out of the approvals process. We don't have the luxury of cherry-picking right now."

With The Bahamas' main source of foreign exchange earnings having completely dried up due to the tourism shutdown, Mr Rolle said the country must focus on what is in its control - such as the investments approval process - rather than external factors such as how our primary visitor markets are doing in combating COVID-19.

"This is an opportunity for the Government to shine and it cannot be lip service," the ex-investments minister told Tribune Business, adding that the jobs and incomes of staff in the relevant government agencies may soon depend on their success and productivity given the Public Treasury's dire financial straits.

"All the entities notorious for slow movement must realise their lifestyles and incomes are at stake also. It's not just my lifestyle. If the Government's revenue is compromised and they are unable to pay salaries, they're impacted by that and they cannot run back to the private sector.

"Once the Government's revenue collapses everyone collapses, so this is an opportunity for government to shine - every last one of them. It cannot be lip service. With the rating agencies' actions, we need some good news in this sea of bad news," Mr Rolle implored.

"Give investors confidence that the Government is on their side and prepared to work with them. When we have zero tourist arrivals that means no US dollars are coming, no foreign exchange is coming, and our purchasing power becomes compromised. We have to get things moving."

Mr Rolle's call for the Government to give investors, local and foreign, the confidence that it is on their side came before Dr Minnis launched an attack on the private sector and business owners during yesterday's national address (see other article on Page 1B).

Arguing that many companies were only too eager to lay-off staff at the first sign of difficulty, the Prime Minister questioned whether some in the private sector "have a heart" as he asked: "Where is your compassion? Where is your soul?"

While that is unlikely to instill the confidence requested by Mr Rolle, the Prime Minister said the Government was now examining how Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) can exploit the global oil price low and "lock in" savings by purchasing fuel supplies now.

Noting that fuel is the largest item on The Bahamas' import bill, he added that the Government was also focused on import substitution where possible. "This may include, for example, but not be limited to, items like hand sanitizer, disinfectants, non-medical grade face masks and related health care products," Dr Minnis said. "We will promote fast growing agricultural produce and an increase in fisheries for local consumption."