Stressing that he was not suggesting that The Bahamas ought to abandon its tourism model, former Governor of the Central Bank and former executive of the Grand Bahama Port Authority Julian Francis said recently the country is missing an important opportunity to diversify its economy.
“I believe this is going to be more the fact in the future than it has been in the past. Whereas it’s true it employs large numbers of people, the fact is those are low paid jobs, very minimal skills required etc.,” said Mr. Francis, while addressing the Rotary Club of Lucaya in Freeport last week.
“That’s one of the problems and that does not really do anything for your economy in the medium and long term. You can’t really develop an economy by simply providing a large number of jobs at the lower end of the spectrum. You’ve got to actually develop your people.”
He said the problem with tourism is precisely its inability to provide the kind of development The Bahamas should truly be enjoying.
“The economy of The Bahamas today is showing signs that it needs the diversification of that economy, which Freeport makes possible,” said Mr. Francis, the former CEO and Co-Chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority.
“In other words, one can question very, very seriously whether the historical, classic tourism model is one which is going to continue to sustain the Bahamian economy as we go forward.”
Mr. Francis did not appear to be taking a direct hit at the government, but said Bahamians in general should be concerned about the failure to diversify, which he said is the greatest problem The Bahamas faces today.
Presently, the government’s key economic thrust is its focus on anchor tourist development projects on each inhabited Family Island. Prime Minister Perry Christie himself has suggested that the idea was one that would reap untold benefits for The Bahamas.
Government officials say The Bahamas has more than 112 investment projects on the board with active venture on 12 islands.
Together, $12.6 billion is at work to create new communities and build human opportunity in a shared vision of growth for the country, officials claim.
Some officials in government have also consistently pointed to the need for diversification. It’s one of the reasons why Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Leslie Miller has continued to push liquefied natural gas projects.
But while government officials revealed over the summer that they had been negotiating a heads of agreement with at least one energy company for such a project, no deal has yet been signed.
On Tuesday, Mr. Francis said he finds it discouraging that not enough emphasis is being placed on diversification.
“The tourism sector already then does not encourage the development of skills and so on, which are really the stuff of development,” he said.
“What I’m saying is as we look forward, as we plan the development of The Bahamas, I believe that that is a reality which we are going to have to confront head on.”
Mr. Francis said it is an “inescapable view” that the country now needs to look at how it can diversify the base of its economy, and the source of foreign capital and income “which is really the lifeblood of the Bahamian economy”.
“I doubt very much that Bahamians and residents of The Bahamas want to go back to a period when life was more rudimentary and when they did not have the quality of life many people enjoy in The Bahamas. In order to do that, we need to continue to infuse this economy over time with fairly important amounts of foreign currency,” he said.
“So we need to look at how we diversify, I think, in a very serious way the base of this economy in the future, and Freeport is the solution. In those areas in which it works, it’s an outstanding example of how you can create high paid, technical jobs and sustain them over a period of time, and I believe it offers Freeport the opportunity to expand this potential quite importantly in the future.”
Mr. Francis said Freeport provides for the national economy an opportunity to sustain its need for foreign income and good jobs.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
