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Last Updated: Apr 11, 2017 - 1:36:36 PM |
Nassau, Bahamas - Remarks of The Honourable C.V. Hope Strachan, M.P. Minister of Financial Services and Local Government at the Official Launch of The Bahamas Trade Information Service Portal British Colonial Hilton 6th April, 2017:
It gives me great pleasure to address you this evening on this very momentous occasion for The Bahamas – the Official Launch of the Bahamas Trade Information Portal.
Permit me firstly to express my gratitude to the developers, content producers and contributors for bringing into fruition this important trade information portal, which is very significant and timely for The Bahamas.
At the apex of the information age, the launch of this Portal demonstrates the country’s commitment to becoming an active participant of the information revolution and tackling some the challenges posed by the unrelenting pace of globalisation.
There is no doubt that the digitization of information has had a profound impact on the landscape of the global economy. The revolution in communications technologies has led to swifter and denser networks of communication. Companies, manufacturers and service providers that were once stifled by the traditional limitations of physical boundaries have been empowered to transcend those boundaries with the click of a button. Access to previously out-of-reach global networks is now at their fingertips, creating opportunities for endless expansion.
On the other hand, the information age has also led to an overabundance of information and information overload. With the advent of the internet, the flood gates of information have been indiscriminately left open, having no regard for information or mis-information. It would seem that the more information that is made available to us, the more difficult it is to make meaningful use of it. As one commentator so eloquently stated: “we are drowning in information but starved for knowledge”.
So the question is this:
How can we leverage the information age to tap into those opportunities that would endow Bahamian businesses with the capacity to compete in the global environment?
In an endless sea of data, how can we translate information into actionable knowledge?
While the Bahamas Trade Information Portal cannot provide a solution to all of the challenges of globalisation, it will certainly provide a wide range of tools for Bahamian businesses to expand their horizons, improve their competiveness, and gain the requisite knowledge and skills to grow their businesses.
There is no doubt that the Portal will provide a wealth of information. But we cannot gain a competitive edge in an increasingly competitive global environment by simply having access to information. Having access to relevant and reliable information is only the first step, albeit a very important step.
However, the key to our success as a nation - the key to our success as business people - is how we use that information; how we transform it into actionable knowledge for our benefit and progress.
“What does that mean?” you may ask.
Allow me to use this illustration: You are an artist. The Bahamas Trade Information Portal is your toolkit. The use of the tools in your toolkit is the difference between you making a piece of outstanding artistry or nothing at all. How can you paint a masterpiece without a brush, or a canvas, or a medium such as paint? The Bahamas Trade Information Portal is your brush, your canvas and your paint.
Through this online trade information service, Bahamian entrepreneurs will have access to an array of dynamic tools. The International Trade Centre, together with my team at the Ministry of Financial Services and the management and staff of the Chamber of Commerce, have done the hard work of weeding out the mis-information to provide you with credible and robust sources of trade information to help your businesses succeed.
Let me highlight a few of these tools which members of my team at the Ministry of Financial Services will shortly demonstrate.
The Portal contains valuable market intelligence tools that can provide guidance for Bahamian businesses seeking to identify new export markets. Customised reports on key products and sectors will provide valuable insight into market trends and emerging markets with impressive growth and untapped potential. These reports will be of particular use to Bahamian entrepreneurs interested in expanding their global reach and exploring new avenues of growth.
Through the Portal, businesses can connect to the International Trade Centre’s SME Trade Academy and take advantage of e-learning courses to expand their skill sets and build competitiveness. The SME Trade Academy offers a number of FREE online courses on: marketing; how to access sources of financing; how to create an export strategy; and how to generate export business. These are but a few of a wide range of online courses that would be of significant benefit to small and medium sized enterprises.
In addition, companies registered on the Portal can connect with international buyers through a Google search-optimised exporter directory. The exporter directory is a powerful tool to enable Bahamian companies to increase their online visibility and showcase their products and services to the world. This key feature of the Portal will permit international buyers to search the directory by key words, products, sectors or certifications. In turn, local businesses which are registered on the portal through the Portal’s Exporter Directory will be provided with an invaluable opportunity to market their company through individualised mini-webpages featuring their products and services.
The process of exporting can be complex and success is far from guaranteed. Yet, when it is approached with careful deliberation, exporting can be a rewarding growth strategy for any business.
For businesses that are not quite ready to export, but which are focused and committed, they must first assess their readiness to enter the global marketplace. The Portal’s ‘10 Steps to Export’ Guide includes an Export Readiness Test that enables companies to determine their strengths, weaknesses, objectives and possible strategies as they explore opportunities in foreign markets.
Having briefly addressed some of the key benefits of the Portal, permit me to now put this Portal into the context of my Ministry’s mandate.
The Ministry of Financial Services, which is the Ministry with responsibility for international trade, has been working diligently to fulfil a number of the Government’s international obligations.
In 2008, the Government of The Bahamas, along with the other Member States of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic (which together are referred to as CARIFORUM), signed the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement (or EPA) with Member States of the European Union. The EPA is a reciprocal albeit asymmetrical trade agreement which seeks to strengthen economic and trade relations between the Member States of CARICOM (including The Bahamas), the Dominican Republic and the European Union.
Through the EPA, Bahamian businesses stand to benefit from preferential market access for their products and services to some of the most important and lucrative markets in the world. With grant funding made available through the technical assistance component of the EPA The Bahamas was able to obtain grant funding from the European Union under the 10th Economic Development Fund of the EPA for the design and development of the portal.
The roll out of this Portal lends itself to enabling Bahamian businesses to take advantage of the benefits negotiated by the Government under the EPA by providing vital information on how the EPA can work for you.
The Portal, therefore, serves to foster an environment conducive to the creation of new and dynamic opportunities for growth by facilitating the exchange of essential information.
I am particularly proud of this important achievement that is being launched here this evening, as it will also work in tandem with the Bahamas Bureau of Standards and Quality which was launched only a few short months ago. The Bureau of Standards also has a critical role to play as an information resource to ensure that Bahamian goods and services are equipped to meet international requirements and standards to compete on global markets.
Together, these initiatives will go a long way towards meeting our international obligations, complement our ongoing negotiations for accession to the World Trade Organization, and, in turn, diversify our economy through increased opportunities for trade.
These small milestones that my Ministry has accomplished are not personal accolades. On the contrary, they are national achievements that benefit Bahamians at a most fundamental level. They are drivers of opportunity. Opportunities which can stimulate economic activity. Opportunities which can create a more vibrant business community. These opportunities are ripe for the taking.
But I return to my earlier analogy.
The Portal is only a toolkit. The tools needed to build capacity are there. The tools needed to increase competitiveness are there. The tools needed to increase visibility are there. The opportunities are there.
It is up to the business community – it is up to you – to make use of it.
Let me conclude with this.
It is commonly said that knowledge is power. I beg to differ. Knowledge on its own is simply that: knowledge. It is merely a tool.
Power, on the other hand, is only acquired as a consequence of knowledge put into action. When you add action to the equation, knowledge becomes exceedingly powerful.
In the same vein, the Bahamas Trade Information Portal is but a collection of tools. At the end of the day, the benefit that you stand to derive from these tools is up to you.
So I’ll leave you with this question.
How will you use these tools? Will you take them up? Probe them? Put them to the ultimate test of practical utility?
Or will you, like so many others, refuse the call to action, and in so doing, deny your own power?
Whatever your choice, the Bahamas Trade Information Portal is readily available, and might I add, at no cost to you. There is no fee associated with accessing the information. There is no registration requirement to access the Portal or the information contained in it. The ONLY registration requirement associated with the Portal is for companies that wish to be listed in the exporter directory to increase their online visibility. Registration on the exporter directory of the Portal is also free of cost.
In closing, I wish to extend my unreserved congratulations to my team at the Ministry of Financial Services, the management and staff of the Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Statistics, the Bahamas Customs Department, the Department of Information Technology and all of the other Government agencies that had a hand in making this Portal a success. I am particularly proud to say that they have been able to deliver a quality product, which rivals any trade information portal in the world. Not to mention, they did it in record time!
Thank you.
© Copyright 2017 by thebahamasweekly.com
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