A viable manufacturing industry can be created in The Bahamas

By STAFF?WRITER

FN?News Desk

 

Stressing that the development of the manufacturing industry is still a practical way The Bahamas' economy can be revitalized, president of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce K. Peter Turnquest says the focus must be on creating products that are unique and made from local resources.

Turnquest was addressing attendees at the grant proposal workshop hosted by the Caribbean Export Development Agency and the Grand Bahama Port Authority on Thursday, and noted that global competition is making the marketplace smaller.

"The world as we knew it has changed and we now are subject not only to internal competition, but to competition from the entire world. Due to economies of scale and our proximity to developed countries the cost to produce goods in The Bahamas is significantly higher in a lot of the cases than it is in the United States or Europe or China or wherever," he said.

"Does that mean that we're doomed to be consumers and not manufacturers? And how do we make our way in an economy based on the consumption of services?"

Turnquest said he has not given up on the idea that a viable manufacturing industry can be created in The Bahamas, however, it must be done in a strategic way.

"What it means is that we have to be smarter than the average bird. It means that we have to find niche markets for products that we can source raw materials from right here in The Bahamas," he said.

The government's bid for membership in the World Trade Organization will bring even more pressure on local manufacturing industries, he continued.

"The EPA already signed and in effect allows for professionals from throughout the world, particularly Europe, to come to The Bahamas and offer services...and our country must offer those professionals the same access and the same benefits that are available to you as citizens of the country," he noted.

These developments mean the country's economy must be full of strong locally owned businesses to withstand the advent of international competition.

"This is a global world and whether we like it or not, we are participants in this global economy. And just as we would like to sell our goods and services in the world market, the world has the right to sell them back to us on the same basis," he said.

"And so we will find that all the protectionisms that are taking place... will start to go away come WTO membership."

One of the ways to survive that situation, the chamber president suggested, is to actively seek out ways to utilise natural resources in production so as to keep costs low.

"There are some that we have in common with the rest of the Caribbean and there are some that are unique to us and we are going to have to change our mind-set in terms of trying to copy others and do what others are doing, and because they are the originators, they are doing it better than we are and start to focus on things that we can do, that we have historically done and that we can't trade amongst each other and the world on a basis that is equal or better than," he said.

He noted that the government is in the process of setting up a standards bureau which will set forth guidelines as to what is an acceptable quality of production of product and services that can be exported.

"That standard is going to have to meet world standards and we're going to have to, as organizations, learn how to meet those standards, figure out testing methods and evaluation methods to certify our products for export," he said.

These measures should ensure that as local companies compete on a wider scale, they can assure of quality goods and services and garner respect in the international market.