NASSAU, BAHAMAS- Minister for Grand Bahama, Ginger Moxey, addressing the Bahamas-Canada Innovation Trade Mission, emphasized the government’s commitment to diversifying the nation’s economy through technological innovation and sustainable partnerships, highlighting the launch of Innovate242 as a key initiative aimed at positioning the Bahamas as a leader in the Caribbean’s tech and innovation sectors.
“The government of The Bahamas is keen to foster partnerships and investments that support our vision and efforts to diversify our economy. This goal can only be achieved by exploring the values for technological exchanges and sustainable ventures to create tangible opportunities for human enterprises. In doing so, we prioritize inclusivity and stimulate economic growth on our family islands. Every island of the Bahamas has limitless possibilities and untapped potential just waiting to be discovered and harnessed,” said Moxey.
She noted that the government launched Innovate242 to develop a robust tech ecosystem focused on research and sustainable development in the blue, green, and orange economies and to create a center of innovation for the Caribbean.
Moxey noted that the innovation hub will be a living, breathing environment for tech space entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and enterprises. She noted that global experts, researchers, and business leaders see value in gravitating to The Bahamas to establish a technological hub.
“The government aims to empower entrepreneurs by developing an ecosystem that fosters collaborations with policymakers, diplomats, analysts, and industry experts and to provide resources and support that they need to build and grow successful, sustainable businesses. Specifically, Innovate242 will partner with other cities on best practices in sustainable technology and innovation. This exchange of ideas and experiences will allow us to adopt proven strategies and approaches,” said Moxey.
She continued: “We are creating an ecosystem for collaboration with successful technology hubs and exploring the possibility of their expansion into the Bahamas. By attracting established innovation companies and startups, we will create economic opportunities and position The Bahamas as an attractive market for technology and business. We are leveraging sister-city relationships to enable business, tourism, cultural, and educational exchanges. These partnerships have led to the collaboration of key initiatives related to sustainability, technology, and economic development. We are working with universities to provide students with opportunities for tech-focused study abroad in the Bahamas. Through collaborations on sustainability and innovation, we will unearth new ideas and simultaneously provide students with valuable cross-cultural experiences.”
Moxey also noted that the government is partnering with foundations, tech companies, financial institutions, and other organizations to provide expertise, other resources, and funding to board an innovation fund, which will support the Bahamas’ growth as an innovation hub. We are empowering Bahamian businesses by facilitating B2B opportunities in innovation.
“We will work with local companies to adopt new technologies, build new partnerships, and access new markets. We are focusing on sustainable tech tourism by leveraging the Bahamas’ established tourism industry, including the promotion of eco-tourism, macro-tourism, farm-to-table experiences, biodiversity-based tourism, resilience tourism, film tourism, digital nomadic tourism, heritage tourism, and community-based tourism. We are developing technology solutions for regional issues such as legal migration, water scarcity, renewable energy, smart cities, crime reduction, master planning, and urban development, land registry organization, data mining, improving the ease of doing business, environment and data management, affordable housing solutions, research and development, and national development planning,” Moxey noted.
Moxey also contended that Grand Bahama is on the rise, rapidly transforming into a home of maritime logistics, the home of events and entertainment, and the home of innovation. “Our island is becoming a beacon of innovation and sustainability, where exciting projects are not just in vision, they are happening right now,” said Moxey.
