The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

More than 400 businesses were represented at the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) first-ever Bahamian procurement fair in a bid to increase their share of its $292m in locally-funded projects.

Marlon Johnson, the Ministry of Finance’s acting financial secretary, told Tribune Business: “This is really the IDB, in particular, going over the purpose of the fair, which is to make sure Bahamian businesses and Bahamian entrepreneurs understand all of the opportunities that are involved in the IDB projects here in the country.

“And also that they are aware that, because we are a member of the IDB, they can also bid on contracts like any one of the member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. So the purpose of the fair is to introduce them to the projects, and have the projects here so they see what kind of contracts they can bid on, both for consultancies and to do actual broader sort of contractual work.”

“They will know that this particular project they are going to need consultancies to do construction work, they are going to need IT (information technology) professionals, they are going to need persons who do catering; whatever the things are in that project, so that when the projects are advertised they have a running start.”

Jeffery Beckles, Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) chief executive, said: “In terms of the expectations, the objective here is one of education and introduction. The procurement legislation that we have been working very hard with our stakeholders and the government to develop is critical to getting businesses to understand, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, that they do have a chance in a system that has greater accountability, greater transparency, greater fairness and a great sense of equity where smaller business can participate. That is revolutionary for the business sector.

“Then the other idea is how do we introduce Bahamian businesses to the idea of building stronger partnerships and alliances with regional and international partners in the same space to improve and increase capacity,” Mr Beckles added, “because as these projects come on stream we are going to need more expertise, then causing Bahamians to understand that there is a need for continuous learning and continual development.”

Edison Sumner, who was Mr Beckles’ predecessor at the chamber, told Tribune Business: “It’s overwhelming to see the amount of people that actually showed up to this. I didn’t know there were so many people that had an interest in IDB procurement, but it creates an opportunity for a lot of professionals to have access to be able to submit bids and respond to RFP’s (request for proposals) that are put out by the IDB or by IDB-sponsored activities.

“I’m just hoping that for those who aren’t as qualified to submit bids that they will take measures to be sure that they qualify themselves through whatever means are necessary to do so. But it also creates a great opportunity for partnerships, in case one entity or individual doesn’t possess all of the requisite requirements.”

Winston Rolle, a Small Business Development Centre consultant, added: “It’s a good opportunity for the private sector to get engaged to understand the different projects that basically the government is paying for by way of the IDB.

“Hopefully this will provide some opportunities for private sector companies to get more engaged in the projects. But the key thing is understanding the requirements, which is one of the challenges for most companies, and the IDB opened by talking about their criteria.”

Demarius Cash, chief executive of Bahamian technology firm, Seagrape Inc, said of the IDB initiative: “It gives companies an opportunity to see what’s going on, and then where they can try to put themselves in a position to bid for those contracts.” He added that he expects the IDB to build “a talent pool in terms of a database with all entrepreneurs” and develop a “Bahamas thing”.