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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie addresses delegates during the opening ceremony of the 3rd Caribbean Conference on The International Financial Services Sector. The three-day conference is currently being held at the British Colonial Hilton from March 31 – April 2. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay).
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Nassau,
The Bahamas – Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie believes that
creativity and innovation are the determinants of success in the financial
services sector. Mr. Christie made the remark during the opening ceremony for
the 3rd Caribbean Conference
on The International Financial Services Sector. The three-day conference is
currently being held at the British
Colonial Hilton from March 31 to April 2.
“Creative
or Innovative places grow and develop.
Places that stifle creativity do not,” said Mr. Christie. “Indeed, in The Bahamas – we are of the firm
belief that the future of financial services is not just in the efficient and
effective provision of services such as ensuring that we have fast turn around
times or that we are cost efficient, etc.
No, the future of the financial services sector also relies on
creativity and innovation.”
He
said that his thesis, therefore, is that in order to develop a ‘Great Financial
Services Centre’ every effort must be taken to ensure that a jurisdiction’s
services-based economy works well, while also ensuring that its economy
supports creativity and innovation.
“Our
discussion, therefore, must include our labour markets because the future of
our centres relies on having a sufficient number of high quality financial
services professionals with the depth and breadth of skills needed for a
modern, innovative financial services industry,” he said.
Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie chats with Minister of Financial Services, Hon. Ryan Pinder during the opening ceremony of the 3rd Caribbean Conference on The International Financial Services Sector. The three-day conference is currently being held at the British Colonial Hilton from March 31 – April 2. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay).
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Prime
Minister Christie also pointed out the importance of a well-developed
educational system that is accessible to all. In addition, he said that early
education must be ‘bolstered’ in order to better prepare children for primary
and secondary education.
“Secondly,
then, we must also improve at the tertiary and professional levels to ensure
that a sufficient number of our citizens have the necessary skills for perform
well and to think critically on the job.”
He
said, that several factors determine how attractive a jurisdiction would be to
potential offshore business. He pointed to factors including (i) “luck factors” like the geographic proximity to clients and important
markets; (ii) policy factors such as how easy it is to do business in a country
and the quality of your infrastructure – an area which I will address later;
and most importantly (iii) the availability of skilled local talent.
From
this perspective, the Prime Minister said that regional governments need to
focus on developing a ‘Strategic Human Development Policy.’
“Countries
in this hemisphere (and I am talking about both the Caribbean and Latin
America) must address this phenomenon known as the ‘skills gap’ because these
gaps directly constrain what we can do, generally, and how we compete for
mobile capital,” he said.
He
said that to this end, he has directed the Minister of Financial Services to
work with all relevant institutions within the Bahamian Government and outside
of the Government to ensure that Bahamians are ready for the changing realities
in the financial services sector.
In
addition, Mr. Christie discussed some of the initiatives currently being taken
at the Ministry of Financial Services, and the private sector to ensure that
creativity is supported. Some of these initiatives include the creation of the
Smart Fund, The Bahamas Executive Entity and other industry driven products.
© Copyright 2014 by thebahamasweekly.com
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