PRIME MINISTER COURTS THE WORLD INVESTMENT COMMUNITY

London, England – Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis promoted The Bahamas as a premier destination for global partnerships and investments in a series of meetings and events in London last week, including at the African Leadership Summit, where he delivered a keynote address emphasizing our shared histories, growing trade and diplomatic ties, and opportunities for investment and new transport linkages on 17 July 2024. 

The recent Afreximbank Annual Meetings and AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum, hosted in The Bahamas, attracted over 5000 delegates, underscoring the government’s commitment to economic collaboration and strengthening alliances on matters of common interest.  Here is an excerpt from that address:

In The Bahamas, we are pioneering efforts to use Carbon Credits as a way of monetizing our natural sea grasses, which absorb more carbon than the Amazon basin.

We have implemented trailblazing legislative and regulatory frameworks to facilitate the trade in and responsible management of digital assets, especially through our ‘Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges’ Act.

And we were the first country to introduce a Central Bank digital country, the Sand Dollar.

We are also tackling what we view as unfair practices in the regulation of anti-money laundering, and anti-tax evasion activities and the financing of terrorism.

We have taken a leading role in building a coalition of support to implement fundamental reforms to the global tax financial architecture, which is now being developed by a working group of the United Nations.

We have helped to facilitate peace and stability in our region, by playing an active role in the de-escalation of conflict between Guyana and Venezuela, and in contributing to the multilateral efforts to help the people of Haiti find a long-lasting solution to their troubles.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say that few people ever expected initiatives like these, from small countries like ours.

Perhaps our efforts in tourism have been a little too successful, and few can imagine much more for us than sun, sand and sea.

But Ladies and Gentleman:

There may be a limit as to how far we can prevent or dilute the disruptions that are thrown our way, a limit to the opportunities that others bring; but we have much control over how we respond to the circumstances with which we are presented.

And so, my African and Caribbean brothers and sisters,  what examples from our experience in The Bahamas can we offer that will hopefully shine at least a little light on the way forward?

Firstly, never relinquish that sense of ‘agency’, where you just sit back, content to be a ‘rule-taker’ and not a ‘rule-maker’.

Size, geography, history and all the other obvious constraints, do not have to be barriers.

While we agitate loudly to be compensated for any number of grievances and injustices, let us also focus our energy on what we can do to drive our own progress.

Next, Participate!

Show up!

Engage!

Invest!

Few things are best done alone.

Many more successes are achieved by working together.