The Tribune

By FREDERICK SMITH QC

Dubai’s lightning explosion onto the world scene is exactly the kind of example The Bahamas needs to break out of our sad cycle of stagnation and mediocrity. Prime Minister Davis should be applauded for having the initiative and imagination to lead the way in connecting us with one of the most stunning economic revolutions in modern history.

Instead, his enterprising effort has been engulfed in a cacophony of jealous braying, small-minded carping and politically motivated bellyaching by those who would rather see The Bahamas locked in a death spiral of squandered opportunities than acknowledge the positive, progressive and transformational potential staring us in the face.

This is to say nothing of the unconscionable abuse and resentment hurled at the Bahamians tasked with showcasing our culture and energy to the world. People like Clint Watson, whose obvious talent and charisma have been besmirched just because he happens to also work for government. Neither performers like Clint, nor the Prime Minister, should be having to justify or defend the cost or composition of such a valuable expedition – the vast majority of which was paid for by the gracious hosts in any case.

In the grand scheme of things, this whole penny-pinching “controversy” is a storm in a teacup, a silly sideshow, much ado about nothing. A million dollars is a pittance to pay for the priceless lessons and opportunities that come through contact with one of the most exciting economic success stories in the world.

Like Freeport in 1955, in 1960, Dubai was a tiny, inconsequential fishing village on the Persian Gulf coast of the United Arab Emirates. Today it is the most populous city in the UAE; a global real estate and economic powerhouse that is home to among other things, the world’s tallest building, tallest hotel, largest shopping centre, largest indoor theme park, busiest airport and the longest fully automated metro network. Sadly, unlike Freeport, almost overnight, it became a vast, glittering metropolis; a modern wonder of the world.

And this is not, as is often claimed, merely the result of vast oil wealth. In fact, its modest reserves compared with the surrounding Emirates meant Dubai had to concentrate on developing other sectors before the oil ran out. If not, as the country’s former leader Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum once observed: “My grandfather rode a camel, my father rode a camel, I drive a Mercedes, my son drives a Land Rover, his son will drive a Land Rover, but his son will ride a camel.”

So the decision was taken to use oil revenue, while it lasted, to diversify into trade, tourism, hospitality, aviation, real estate, financial services and much more. Oil production is now less than one percent of the country’s GDP and its world-class level of development far outstrips any of its oil wealthy, but also oil dependent neighbours.

We have our own “oil” here in The Bahamas, and it is not to be found at the end of a drill bit, or in an aragonite mining pipe-dream. Our invaluable natural resource is our pristine, beautiful environment which - in normal times - brings seven million visitors to our islands every year. We can and must use this inexhaustible wealth source as a starting point, a springboard, much as Dubai did with oil, to catapult The Bahamas into a diversified and prosperous future. As Dubai continues to explode, Freeport continues to atrophy; its unique infrastructure, existing from the 1960s, crumbling to sand from the political ignorance and shortsightedness of both the FNM and PLP.

It is instructive that while lacking anything like the unparalleled natural abundance we enjoy, Dubai was able to grow their own tourism industry from less than 400,000 visitors in 1892, to more than 16 million in 2019. It is now the fourth most visited city in the world.

The Bahamas should be seeking connections with new economic miracles like Dubai, Singapore and even Miami – the rise to global status of which hinged upon the same strategic geographical advantages that we enjoy here. We should be intensely focused on absorbing the rich lessons on offer in these places and working hard to bring multiculturalism, ethnic diversity, investment and knowhow to our shores to make our own dreams of a great leap forward reality.

If small desert tribes can cause an economic oasis like Dubai to spring up mightily from the bare desert sands; if a country of tiny villages can erect a world class, high-tech metropolis on the resource-starved island of Singapore; then surely Bahamians can raise a magic city from our crystal waters and take the world by storm.

In the 1960s, we almost did. But the exciting, audacious, visionary experiment known as Freeport was quickly dashed upon the rocks by the same jealous, insecure, ignorant, shortsighted attitude that has once again raised its ugly head to attack our Dubai delegation.

Xenophobia and political interference have killed the goose which was laying our golden eggs and in the intervening 60 years, we appear to have learned nothing. Our governments have remained in the grip of a blinkered hostility, an anxiety-driven obsession with maintaining a stranglehold on Freeport and in particular keeping foreign “invaders” out at all costs. Freeport is now less than a shadow of what it could have been; a glaring monument to self-sabotage and self-defeating ignorance.

But Freeport can still become the Dubai, the Hong Kong, or even the Silicon Valley of the West – and the Venice or Monte Carlo of the Caribbean to boot!

All the requisite ingredients are still there – the revolutionary Hawksbill Creek Agreement and the ethos of laissez-fare freedom it sired; the unparalleled geographical advantage of being at the nexus of several important trade routes and on the doorstep of the largest economy in the world; an already existing and well established industrial zone; a low population density and the vacant real estate needed for exponential expansion – all lying dormant, waiting for leaders with the foresight and courage to resurrect this bold, ambitious project.

There is no need to re-invent the wheel; just cut the red tape and roll out the red carpet. The Davis administration should focus on attracting new investment, cutting-edge industries and yes, foreign entrepreneurs and experts to Freeport in the greatest possible numbers. We need new global people, sources of investment in hospitality, entertainment, trade and industry. We need innovative minds in cutting-edge emerging fields in technology, agriculture, finance and renewable energy.

Freeport could become a global business centre, the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies, a crucible of research and invention [especially in climate change resilience, embryonic like Coral Vita], and at the same time, home to the most daring and spectacular tourism wonders imaginable, the playground for the rapidly growing South Florida economy and an attraction to visitors from around the world. But this would require relinquishing our national insecurity and xenophobia, embracing foreign investment, tearing down regulatory red tape, opening the doors to immigration.

We should be inviting the world to take part in a new and audacious economic experiment, not just as visitors, but to live and work by the thousands, giving Bahamians opportunities to joint-venture with intrepid and successful foreigners so that WE can finally become owners of our economy, employing thousands of expats to work for us, as is the case in Dubai, in Abu Dhabi, in Singapore. Our current immigration policy - so jealously guarded by the political elite - has condemned us to an opposite nightmare reality in which all low-paying menial work goes to Bahamians while foreigners are brought in to hold the top jobs. What a sick perversion of “Bahamianisation”!

The proud Bedouin tribes who built Dubai – from which I am fortunate to be descended on my mother’s side – have gone from fishermen and nomads to millionaires and financial barons within a few generations. Though the term Bedouin means ‘desert dweller”, they are now an advanced, cosmopolitan urban population. They have welcomed and embraced foreign involvement and even immigration, to the point that they are now offering citizenship to investors, inventors, scientists, doctors, specialists, talents, intellectuals, artists and their families; anyone who can contribute to this daring and still evolving economic project.

Yet they have not surrendered their identity in the process; far from it. Bedouin cultural practices and concepts have been preserved and even enhanced through the wealth and progress that has been built. Their traditional way of life is cherished and celebrated, its legacy safe and secure in perpetuity – precisely because Dubai had the courage to look outward and embrace the future.

Bahamians can and should learn from this example. We must shelve our fears, banish our insecurities and use what the world has to offer to help revolutionise our economy, elevate our people and ensure our own culture and traditions are preserved and protected.

I therefore beseech my PLP government: make friends in Dubai. Bring my Bedouin cousins here! Bring any and all who will help The Bahamas cast off the chains of stagnation and complacency, protectionism and insecurity. Our future as a nation depends on it. If the economic turbulence of the last few years has proven anything, it is that we cannot continue along the same path; our economy and society are simply too fragile and vulnerable to survive.

And so I applaud the our “Brave” Davis administration for ignoring the naysayers and holding firm in the face of petty controversy. I encourage them to continue thinking outside the box and seeking out exciting connections for The Bahamas around the world. Above all, I ask them to please revisit the dream that was Freeport with a fresh perspective, and do all they can to help realize its full potential.

The Prime Minister should remember, like the genesis of Freeport with the Hawksbill Creek Agreement in 1955, economic miracles like Dubai and Singapore were ignited by visionary leadership, by fearless individuals in power who had the daring and initiative to take the first step. The opportunity is there for the taking if he will only but grasp it.