Source: Date: Updated: |
TheBahamasInvestor.com
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 Tuesday, February 3, 2015 |
Pictured: Gowon NG Bowe, Chairman of Bahamas Chamber of Commerce & Employers Confederation speaking at the 24th Annual Bahamas Business Outlook. (Photo©Dupuch/Harry Cutting)
As The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) celebrates 80 years of private sector representation, chairman Gowon Bowe has spoken of the need for greater and more productive partnerships – between the private sector and government, as well as between individual chambers around the country.
“The Chamber has a very integral role to play in securing the future of The Bahamas,” the chairman said last week in an address during the 24th annual Bahamas Business Outlook. “It is important to establish the right relationships. The private sector must partner with the government to achieve any economic success in this country. We have to collaborate on national issues to build trust and consensus.”
Bowe, who is a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers Bahamas, said the Chamber has been working with government on the National Economic Development Plan, calling it a “critical element in the future of The Bahamas,” and added that the Chamber’s focus for the coming year was on fiscal reform and responsibility as well as accountability and transparency.
He also said the organisation would continue to drive the agenda on small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) which account for over 90 per cent of all businesses in The Bahamas, by providing more support for smaller firms with an SME mentorship programme and help desk.
“We are hoping to spawn the growth of new enterprises,” he said.
To shift the focus from New Providence to The Bahamas as a whole, Bowe said there would be greater emphasis this year on partnership between the country’s Chambers. Members are invited to the BCCEC’s second National Conclave of Chambers of Commerce in The Bahamas, which is expected to take place in the spring and will allow Family Island representatives to network, discuss issues pertinent to them and make use of an ‘information village’ during the event.
The Bahamas Business Outlook took place last week at the Melia Resort in Nassau. The keynote speaker was Prime Minister Perry Christie and there were also presentations from director of financial services in the Ministry of Financial Services Nicola Virgill-Rolle and president of Arawak Port Development Mike Maura Jr.
cmorris@dupuch.com