Before the summer recess got underway, the new administration was busy setting out its policy guidelines and reaffirming its committment to economic growth in The Bahamas during July.

Seeking to become more efficient and effective in the allocation and use of public funds, the government last month launched a new public financial management and performance monitoring project.

The project is being hailed as a tool to help combat cumbersome processes and inconsistent practices in public financial management.

Approved by the board of the Inter-American Development Bank in July 2014, the $33 million, five-year project received the green-light from the Bahamian Parliament in February 2016.

“I am confident that this project will be one of the defining projects in the Bahamian public sector and public finance history,” said Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. “We are going to be making some quantum leaps in the next couple of years. We are going to regain our advantage, somehow, some way, with the limited resources that we have.”

Another way the new administration is looking to improve competitiveness is through technology.

At a Digital Banking Solutions for Business Success seminar later in the month, Turnquest explained that as the government increases its overall competitiveness, it wants to entice financial institutions to return more of their back office operations to The Bahamas, expanding their local footprint to include headquarters for major divisions.

“We want to ensure that mind and management continues to grow here and that opportunities continue to exist for Bahamians to learn the complexity of the banking, trust and security industries, while adding tremendous value to your clients.”

His remarks echo those made by Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis during his address to the International Telecommunications Union’s Global Symposium for Regulators, where he outlined his government’s priorities as they relate to smart innovation.

The PM said that the use of smart technology going forward is expected to positively impact the country and its citizens in a number of areas, including education, national security, transportation, financial services, disaster management, healthcare, and urban development.

The tourism sector once again proved its competitiveness last month, with several destinations in The Bahamas ranking high with Travel + Leisure readers. The popular travel magazine revealed its World’s Best winners on July 11, with The Bahamas snagging four spots on the region’s Top 15 list.

Click here to see the top stories from July.