NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) is hoping to go completely digital by next month, a move which will, according to Director of Investments Phylicaia Woods-Hanna, reduce the time it takes to process Investment Board applications from two months to roughly a week.
During a weekly press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) yesterday Woods-Hanna noted that the BIA is undergoing a number of advancements in terms of human capital, revamping existing legislation and policies, and digitization.
“We are undergoing a process to completely digitize the BIA. We hope that as of December 2023, we can stop the hard copies of the International Persons Landholding Act applications,” Woods-Hanna revealed.
“What this does is cut down the time from about two months for the processing of Invest Board applications from about to about a week or a week and a half. This is a great win for the facilitation department of the BIA. We have opened our USD and BSD accounts at the BIA. With that, we are now able to accept payments.
“Under the old process, you took an approval letter to Inland Revenue and had to get a receipt and bring it back to BIA for issuance of an investment board permit or certification for registration. That process has since changed to allow for greater efficiency in the processing of applications,” said Woods-Hanna.
Woods-Hanna also noted that the National Investment Policy introduced in 1994 is also being revised.
“We are revamping NIA and we are undergoing stakeholders with all of the professional services bodies. We are currently having our first consultation with the financial services industry to see how we can cut down the time for financial services applications,” said Woods-Hanna.
She also suggested the possibility of expanding the list of industries reserved for Bahamians under the country’s investment policy regime.
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