The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A FORMER Chamber of Commerce CEO said while the novel coronavirus pandemic will result in some “economic fall out” for the country, the impact of the potentially deadly disease on local commerce is nothing to panic over.

Edison Sumner, former chief executive officer of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce Employers Confederation (BCCEC), told The Tribune he believes the global pandemic will have a drastic impact on the country’s three largest sectors. Still, he insisted there were things that could be done to “mitigate against” the potential economic downfall, which he predicted would only last for a “short season” .

“There’s going to be less activity now happening in the economy and unfortunately those who rely on that level of interaction are going to be the most impacted,” he said.

“I’m also afraid that there may end up being an impact directly on our tourism sector, as well as on our financial services sector and our retail sector because once this information gets out that The Bahamas has now confirmed its first (COVID-19) case, people are now going to be more averse to travelling.”

Mr Sumner predicted the country will see some cancellations in arrivals from both the cruise ship and airline industries.

He added there would also be a decrease in the number of people travelling to the country to conduct business, since a number of international companies have instructed their executives to “cancel and discontinue all international travel.”

“The challenge is going to be that if there is going to be no or limited movement of voyages – whether it’s in the cruise industry, or whether it’s in cargo vessels who bring goods and products into the country – then those who rely on that kind of service to put product into the market will also likely be impacted by this,” he explained.

“And we can’t say that we will rely on Amazon and those other airlifts because I think that there may be limited movements in that area as well.”

Still, Mr Sumner said he did not believe that the world’s economic activity would “cease completely” because of the fear surrounding the spread of the virus.

“You cannot bring the entire economy of the world to a screeching halt because of this,” he said.

“There has to remain activities in all of the economies around the world in order for the world to keep moving economically.

“Now, it is not to incite any kind of fear or anxiety in the workplace. There are things I believe that can be done to mitigate against this and I think it’s only going to last for a short season whether it’s a few weeks or a couple of months.

“But we need to brace ourselves and prepare to exercise whatever business continuity plans we would have had in place as corporate Bahamas.”

Mr Sumner said businesses that don’t have continuity plans should seek advice and counsel quickly to have one created and implemented in their respective workplaces.

He also said the country needs to ensure that it is able to “generate sufficient activities in the economy so that the currency continues to flow” and does not come to a “stand still.”

“For international trades, I believe that the Central Bank of the Bahamas has sufficient reserves on hand so that they are not going to be concerned about the inability to facilitate international commerce and transactions,” he furthered.

“I believe they probably have 12 weeks or more of foreign currency reserves on hand so I don’t think that they are going to be concerned of anything happening here as it relates to the reserves that they have.

“But certainly, I think that there is going to be some economic fall out, but it’s not a case where we ought to panic over it. This just requires some proper planning, preparation, activating some of our disaster preparedness plans and activating our business continuity plans.”

Mr Sumner said the coronavirus pandemic calls for “health, tourism, logistic and business professionals” to work together to determine what is needed to “help mitigate any spread of this virus and its impact on the local economy.”

“The thing is, which could be a blessing as well as a curse, is that we operate in several islands in the country. It’s important to understand this virus was confirmed in New Providence and the rest of the country has not had any confirmation of anyone else who has contracted this virus.

“So, it’s important for people to understand that we’re operating several economies in this country and we cannot keep focusing on one particular island when something happens as we did with the case coming out of Dorian with Grand Bahama and Abaco, where the world had the impression that the entire country had shut down.”

Mr Sumner said it was crucial for The Bahamas to make visitors understand that the country is operating multiple economies and that the nation was still “vibrant.”

“We expect we’re going to recover quickly,” he assured. “We know that we’re still dealing with challenges from Dorian and that certainly has put our resources to the test and this is going to do the same.

“But I believe that we are resourceful and we are resilient. We ought not panic, we don’t want to sell fear. This is something that is going to last for a short season, but we will get through it and I believe the Bahamas is going to be even stronger for it.”