The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian manufacturing advocate yesterday said it would be "beautiful" if the Government fosters greater “linkages” between local producers and major resort and real estate developments.

Karla Wells-Lisgaris, vice-president of the Bahamas Light Industries Development Council, said the Government needed to stipulate in its negotiations with overseas developers that they "buy local" as much as possible in return for the multiple tax breaks and other investment incentives they receive.

Addressing a press conference, she said: “I think there's a lot of things that the Government can do. I've had the opportunity to review the recommendations from the Economic Recovery Committee, and I think one of the recommendations that would be beautiful, if it was adopted, would be trying to get some of the bigger investments that get tax concessions from the government to buy local.

"We understand that, typically, items are more expensive when they are procured within the economy, but there's a lot that goes into that and makes the product more expensive. So a lot of these investors, when they come in to get the tax concessions, their first instinct is to purchase all those items abroad.

"I think greater dialogue needs to happen between the investor, through the Bahamas Investment Authority, and the local businesses to find ways that we can supply more of these developments," Ms Wells-Lisgaris said.

"It can be challenging enough to get into some of the larger hotels and, you know, the two large properties are at least in our face. We can see Atlantis and we can see Baha Mar. When Cat Cay got their first case, we had to Google 'where is Cat Cay'. It's a whole development. There's a lot of developments across our 700 islands that we don't even know are there, and so if we don't know they're there, then how can other Bahamian businesses really do business with that entity?

“I think the Government creating linkages would be beneficial. I think we all understand the Government has a very daunting task, but I think there is a bit more that can be done to assist businesses."

Establishing stronger linkages between foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and the domestic economy has been eyed for decades as a means to grow wealth and enhance opportunity for Bahamian entrepreneurs, as well as create jobs.

While such links exist, little progress appears to have been made in recent years towards expanding them. Developers/investors frequently cite concerns over uncompetitive pricing, product quality and consistency of supply as reasons why they do not source more Bahamian goods.

However, Michael Pintard, minister of agriculture and marine resources, recently said Cabinet had approved a policy whereby major FDI projects must purchase 40 percent of their food requirements locally.

Meanwhile Alannah Onselen, president of Bahamas Hand Print, responding to the Prime Minister's charges that merchants have not been proactive enough in developing an online presence, said: “A lot of businesses have done their best to get their websites updated, but there are huge costs involved with getting your website up and running and making it a site where you can place orders online.

"I know a lot of businesses would love to be able to do that. It's almost like you need an entire person to manage the website to get the website up and running. You’ve got to get your product out there. It's actually a massive undertaking.

“Smaller businesses, I know, will struggle at this stage - and have been struggling - to get that up and running. What people have been doing, which is second best I suppose to shopping online, is you can get in contact via WhatsApp if you're not comfortable to go in," she added.

"I know that the Bahamas Federation of Retailers has put out guidelines for shops, and people are following them strictly so that you can shop safely where there's only a certain amount of people allowed in at the same time.

"With regards to online, everybody is doing their best but it has been an incredibly challenging year and coming from before the pandemic, when that was just not how Bahamians shopped at all, to through a pandemic, when things are done to now invest in websites and e-commerce, getting somebody to manage the website, getting photographs up and things like that, it's very challenging and some people, some businesses can't quite get it done at the moment."

Ms Onselen said the Government's waiver of import duty for clothing and apparel retailers, in a bid to improve their price competitiveness against foreign and online rivals, has “helped hugely".

However, she added: "I think that one of the problems is a lot of people don't know that actual clothing and shoes items are duty free. So essentially, when you shop at the Sports Centre or Rubins, or wherever you're going to shop, those shorts aren't US prices plus shipping.

"So if you had flown to Florida and bought the same pair of shorts, it's cheaper to get it here. I’m hoping that we get that message across as well, because it has been a very good initiative. I think a lot of people don't know that a lot of things are duty free. So they have been making an effort to encourage Bahamians to shop now.”