One can’t sell just any product to make the almighty dollar, admonished Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Works John Carey at the opening of the second Annual Adventist Business Owners and Professionals Trade Show on Sunday.
Mr Carey was filling in for Minister of Tourism Obie Wilchcombe at the Trade Show at Bahamas Academy under the theme, Service with Dignity and Integrity. The event showcased the products and talents of various Seventh Day Adventist entrepreneurs.
Encouraging business people to serve their customers with the integrity, Mr Carey asserted that the trade show was an auspicious endeavour. He admonished them to consider the repercussions of breaching copyright laws.
Said he: “For the past two months as I drove by the straw market, which we all know is a national treasure and a tourist attraction, and should be selling authentic wares and tourist items indigenous to The Bahamas, I noticed something that entrepreneurs should consider. In fact, a close relative of mine was visiting from the United States and was driving with me and pointed this out to me. He saw Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vitton, imitation handbags which were being sold in the straw market.
“One might say that they should sell any product to make a dollar given the times we live in. As entrepreneurs, let me caution you as to the serious breach of copyright laws and international conventions persons are committing when not only are they displaying products and services that they have no right to, but intend to sell them. We in The Bahamas run the risk of being slapped with heavy fines, lawsuits and stiff penalties if representatives of these companies visit and see their products being sold without their permission.”
Mr Carey advised entrepreneurs to nurture their businesses so they could become important aspects of the nation’s financial landscape. The trade show he said, provided them with opportunities not only to advertise their services but also to meet prospective customers, as well as see what other manufacturers and suppliers were doing.
The trade show featured some 30 booths – carpentry, electronic, publishing, beauty aids, gardening, floral, real estate, and other businesses.
Also addressing the attendees, President of The Bahamas Conference of Seventh Day Adventists Dr Leonard Johnson encouraged them to be upright when promoting their businesses.
He said the trade show came at a time when the nation is concerned about the unacceptable high level of crime and a general lack of decorum in the country. The theme, he said, is one that prompts the re-examinig of values and principles that build businesses, organisations, communities and by extension, the nation.
He criticised the notion that only the strong survive in business because they repressed others’ initiatives.
“Adventist business people must use a different approach to survive,” he said. “We have to survive by helping one another. And that is the underlying purpose of the Trade Show. It provides the opportunity for the consumers and those who provide the goods and services to interact and network for their mutual benefit. We must show that Adventist business persons can give efficient, quality service with dignity and integrity.”
Vanessa Rolle, The Nassau Guardian
