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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
Panelists Frank Comito, of the Bahamas Hotel Corporation; State Minister for Investments, the Hon. Khaalis Rolle; Robert "Sandy" Sands, of Baha Mar; and David Kosoy, discuss the investment promotion opportunities to prospective investors in the hospitality industry. (BIS Photo / Gena Gibbs).
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Nassau, The Bahamas - Minister of State for Investments the Hon. Khaalis Rolle, joined a panel of hospitality leaders November 9, to address prospective investors about current trends in The Bahamas to create jobs and expand the industry.
The Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference and Operations Summit was held November 8- 9 at the Atlantis Resort, where hotel executives gathered to learn about the 1,000 careers growing in the hospitality and service-orientation industry.
Investment State Minister, the Hon. Khaalis Rolle and Robert "Sandy" Sands from Baha Mar, explain to prospective investors the unemployment climate in The Bahamas. They said the 6,000 new jobs will create a need for training opportunities and cultural sensitivity programmes to prepare a new generation of Bahamians for the hospitality industry. (BIS Photo / Gena Gibbs).
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"I looked at other jurisdictions and what they are doing, in investment promotion and the structure of investment promotion activities," said Minister Rolle. "I started to develop this plan, which I presented to the Prime Minister, that when we launch it, it is the blueprint for us getting a system that is very accommodating, so that at a keystroke, I know every single investor in The Bahamas; I know how long they have been here; I know what they have invested in; I know their background; I know what their capability is; I know what peculiar issue they need help with; and that's the point that we are trying to get to."
Minister Rolle said he wants investors to be able to pick up the phone or go online, download and submit an application and within 24 to 48 hours, they get a response from it. He said investors would not have to interface with a very old process that may be personality driven which may depend solely on individuals.
Robert "Sandy" Sands of Baha Mar explains to prospective investors the role of hotel unions in The Bahamas (BIS Photo / Gena Gibbs).
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"So we want to modernise the entire approach to investing in The Bahamas and modernise the entire approach to doing business in The Bahamas," he told the audience.
Minister Rolle said that changing the industry from relying on personalities and government to policy driven work ethics will take time. He said investors should not have to differentiate between an outgoing government and an incoming government because the process should be institutionalised or seamless.
The Minister noted that when he headed the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce, this was an influential entity in the private sector, which, over a period of time, lost touch with what is the modern means of business.
"And, I stayed there for the greater part of two years, just going through that modernisation process. I'm taking the same private sector philosophy to the public sector and it's not easy," he said. "You're changing an animal that grew over a period of time and yet you will have a bureaucratic red tape that exist that is personality driven, that is legislatively driven. It's going to take some time for us to become that destination where everything is automatic and it relies very little on personalities and government." said Minister Rolle.
Minister Rolle explained that the employment problem is compounded by government problems, private sector problems and education problems that will not be solved immediately. He said an indoctrination process is needed to seek and draw out qualified applicants with the right attitude, philosophy and breeding to complete an accurate representation of Bahamian hospitality and quality service provided in the tourism industry. He said the past proves that problems need to be solved at the source to be cured, rather than solved at its symptom and to have constant administering to resolve issues that arise.
Minister Rolle said the major challenge of governance is ensuring balanced development. "As Sandy [Robert Sands] pointed it out correctly that our heads are not in the sand. We understand there is a skills gap. We understand that more has to be done, but it's not a single sector's problem. It's the government's problem, it's the private sector's problem, it's a problem with the education system, it's a problem with the development system.," he said.
The Minister noted that the Prime Minister recently announced there will be a national training initiative launching soon and the person to head that training initiative has already been selected. "Hopefully, that will begin to solve the problem," said Minister Rolle. "The problem will not be solved overnight. We have to have a plan to ensure that we know we've identified correctly what the issues are and we begin to address those issues at the root."
The panelists said they are working collectively to reduce the unemployment pressure on the Bahamian economy by providing at least 6,000 new jobs in 2014 when Baha Mar is expected to come on stream. Issues concerning union representation and simply just treating employees with an expected global standard are currently in debate to also reduce the difficulty that investors find working throughout the Caribbean region.
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