Government continued to push its agenda on trade at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation (BCCEC) first Trade Seminar and Expo at the Melia Nassau Beach Convention Center last week, as the need to embrace globalisation was underscored.
Minister of Financial Services, Trade & Industry and Immigration Brent Symonette, last Wednesday, delivered the keynote address to attendees, advising them that “if we apply ourselves to global trade standards, it increases opportunities for international capital and partnerships,” and noted that “domestic markets cannot grow in isolation”.
With the trade seminar-expo coinciding with the tabling of the 2018-2019 Budget Communication in Parliament, the need for understanding international trade and export became even more relevant, with topics running parallel to the budget discussions of taxation and economic diversification to support fiscal goals.
Additional presentations were made by Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China,Yin Haigang; Ambassador for the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba, Ismara Vargas Walter; representatives of the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC) and the Customs Department; BCCEC Trade Services; and Hellen Fissihaie, international presenter and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Washington, DC – based F3 Global. Participants received many numerous tips for entering new markets.
Concurrent to the seminar presentations and workshops, the expo portion of the event saw 20 Bahamian producers exhibiting their products and services.
The BCCEC said it is now planning to continue the momentum generated by the expo, by holding another edition of the vendors’ exhibitions in the coming weeks, to coincide with the organization’s National Conclave of Chambers of Commerce (NCCC) in mid-June.
