NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Under the theme “Beyond Recovery into Growth”, the 8th Long Island Business (LIBO) will be offered free to all who register to attend virtually on November 17.
This year’s forum will focus on the progress that has been made since the island was devasted by the 2015 Hurricane Joaquin and what needs to be done to spark economic growth in this Central Bahamas community from the perspective of Long Island’s movers and shakers.
Forum participants are expected to explore such topics as the anticipated luxury resort and cruise port to be built on Long Island and for which the Bahamian Government has already signed off. On the LIBO program will be Sherif Assal, Executive Chairman of Azul Destinations and Calypso Cove Destinations who are committed to building Calypso Cove, a US$250M which will feature a port area and a pier large enough to accommodate a pair of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships. The development will also include a 200-room hotel, 18-hole golf course, casino, waterpark, and marina facilities for mega-yachts.
In a recent segment of the morning television show, Bahamas at Sunrise, Ramona Ritchie-Taylor, and Ian Knowles celebrated the major improvement in the water supply with the installation of larger bore and extended water mains. Ritchie-Taylor noted that there was no longer a problem with water and that residents now have access to quality potable water.
Both emphasized the need for an international airport to facilitate direct airlift from abroad, however. Lack of on-the-ground banking facilities and unstable internet also pose problems, as residents currently rely heavily on online banking. Served by both BTC and Aliv, locals are looking forward to the near-term installation of fibre optic cable promised.
Among the presenters will be Senator Hon. Tyrel Young, Executive Chairman, Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI); Ian Knowles, Chief Councillor, Long Island; Phylicia Woods-Hanna, Director of Investments, Bahamas Investment Authority; Sherif Assal, Executive Chairman, Azul Destinations Ltd; Dr. Anthony Hamilton, President, Bahamas Association of Air Transport Operators (BAATO); Joerg Friese, Developer Broker; Randol Dorsett, Chief Legal Officer, Doctors Hospital Health System; Keiran Chase, Head of Rev and Aliv Retail; Phyllice Bethel, Head of Advisory Services, Access Accelerator; Cheryl de Goicoechea, Bahamas Real Estate Advisor and Shaqueno Porter, Assistant Manager Currency Department, Central Bank of The Bahamas. Father Kari Marcelle, Rector of St. Paul’s Parish, will say the opening prayer and the moderator will be Ramona Ritchie-Taylor.
Joan Albury, president, TCL Group, and chief organizer of the eight-island Business Outlook series spoke to this year’s LIBO agenda.
“The organization of the 2022 Long Island Business Outlook is unique. On the 17th, the Long Island Business Outlook will be concentrating on well-informed contributions from persons on the ground and actively involved in community development. Collectively, they will function as ‘keynoters’,” Albury said.
“We thought it necessary to make the input of community leaders central to the day’s sessions, which will concentrate on those industries that are key to the island’s economy and its growth in the short, immediate, and long term—tourism.”
