{"id":3693,"date":"2010-11-01T08:32:48","date_gmt":"2010-11-01T12:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/?p=3693"},"modified":"2010-11-01T10:05:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-01T14:05:00","slug":"brent-symonette-questions-need-for-souvenir-imports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/2010\/11\/brent-symonette-questions-need-for-souvenir-imports","title":{"rendered":"Brent Symonette Questions Need For Souvenir Imports"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Louise Lifetime straw vendor Louise \u2018Titta\u2019 Bullard, 98, was the special guest of honour during last weekend\u2019s BahamArts Festival. Although she is blind, Ms Bullard, originally from Mangrove Cay, Andros, mastered the 15 and 11-string weave, among others. Here favourite style is the peas an\u2019 rice using white top palm and coconut straw. Ms Bullard is pictured being presented with her award by Bahamas National Craft Association president Martha Hanna-Smith. Also pictured are Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Lawrence S \u2018Larry\u2019 Cartwright (centre) and BAIC executive chairman Edison M Key. (BIS photo\/Patrick Hanna)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Acting Prime Minister T Brent Symonette has questioned the need to continue importing souvenir items for tourists who visit The Bahamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we spend hundreds of millions of dollars importing souvenir items, that might not be the smartest way of doing business as we go forward,\u201d he said during last weekend\u2019s BahamArts Festival at the Arawak Cay Culture Centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe products here displayed are of an extremely high quality. We as Bahamians are capable of creating art and craft of a quality that can be sold world wide.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s BahamArts Festival, a production of the Handicraft Development and Marketing Department of Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, brought together more than 100 of the top artisans from throughout the islands.\u00a0 The Ministry of Tourism\u2019s annual Authentically Bahamian Show is set for December.<\/p>\n

Mr Symonette, substantively the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said it was \u201ctruly refreshing to see the wonderful artistic creations\u201d on exhibit.\u00a0 They were even the more significant as they were Bahamian made from things Bahamian, he added.\u00a0 Some estimates put to $300 million the value of souvenirs and craft imported into the country, marked up, and resold to tourists and residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is fairly easy then to see what an art and craft industry can add to our economy,\u201d said Mr Symonette.<\/p>\n

He noted that the new Straw Market downtown Nassau is nearing completion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we spend hundreds of millions of dollars importing souvenir items, that might not be the smartest way of doing business as we go forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a very small country by international standards,\u201d said Mr Symonette.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are competing in a competitive world and we have to strive to succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to understand that our tourists have the ability to buy products anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we have to show them our culture. We have to show them the products we can produce and introduce them to the Bahamian things.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter all, it is your money that is rebuilding that Straw Market. So why shouldn\u2019t we display, distribute and sell our goods.\u201d<\/p>\n

He noted there were Bahamian vendors being held in New York, accused of violating trade laws.<\/p>\n

\u201cI trust that we will learn from that experience,\u201d he said, \u201cand produce things truly Bahamian because no other country is capable of displaying Bahamian artifacts and art and culture like Bahamians.\u201d\u00a0 He urged vendor to capitalise on the unique Bahamian style and go international.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet us think of endless possibilities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to stop being modest in our production. We have to think big and move international. We must embrace things here in our Bahamas that are unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thanked the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for \u201ctheir commitment of support they have shown us.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week application a $500,000 IDB grant was launched. It will be used over the next two years to create a virtual marketplace for Bahamian craft products on the World Wide Web.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith over 7 billion people in the world, now is the time to take our creativity and go into cyber space,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

By Gladstone Thurston
\nBahamas Information Services<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acting Prime Minister T. Brent Symonette has questioned the need to continue importing souvenir items for tourists who visit The Bahamas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[37,33],"class_list":["post-3693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","tag-crafts","tag-tourism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3693\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}