The Ministry of Financial Services, in conjunction with the African Caribbean and Pacific Multilateral System (ACP MTS) Programme, will facilitate a workshop series on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), October 8-11, 2012, at the British Colonial Hilton.

GATS is an agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The morning session for the workshop series will be held from 9 am to noon, with Minister of Financial Services Ryan Pinder and Chairman of the Bahamas Trade Commission Philip Galanis bringing remarks. The afternoon session will be held 2-5 pm.

Today a workshop for the financial service stockholders in the private sector will be held. Participants will include bankers, accountants and other financial service providers. Public sector officials and regulatory agencies will be hosted during the afternoon session.

On October 9 the workshop in the morning session will be for professionals in such areas as law and healthcare – such as doctors, dentists and pharmacists, engineers and architects. The afternoon session will be for insurance providers.

On October 10 the session will be directed at telecommunication and media providers.

On October 11 the morning workshop will be for tourism and ancillary services such as hoteliers, tour operators, water sports and marina operators, travel agencies and other tourism-related service providers. The afternoon session will be for retail, wholesale and other distribution services.