For the economy of The Bahamas to regain strength there must be some external investment. However, according to the Managing Partner of Deloitte Bahamas, Raymond Winder, many of these investors are not prepared to invest in the local economy.

“ In our national investment policy, for too long we have governed our country through a group of men and women called the cabinet.

“It is time that we get serious about what we need to be in place to attract investors.

“Too many investors are not prepared to come to the Bahamas, because they are not sure at the end of the day what those policies are going to be,” Mr. Winder said.

“One Cabinet comes in and they say the policy is this, a next Cabinet comes in and they change the policy.

“We’ve got to engrain in law what we would like to see relative to attracting investors,” he said.

Mr. Winder, who made his comments during a JCN Roundtable discussion, described reasons as to why there is a lack of international investment, stating that one so critical, is one that also affects Bahamians.

“I have identified a couple of things that is critical that we look at in the short term in order to stop some of the concerns, like energy cost.

“Energy cost is a huge problem for this country. The average Bahamian is just paying too much in electricity and we don’t have that cost to a point where we can attract any kind of investors.

“Anyone looking at The Bahamas as a possible place for investment has a concern with energy. We’ve got to fix that; not next week, not next year; that has to be on the agenda today,” Mr. Winder stated.

Mr. Winder said that in order to attract these kinds of investors, the legislation will need to be addressed.

“The legislation has been around for quite some time.What has to happen that will begin to attract some investors who have just passed by the Bahamas?” Mr. Winder asked.

Concurring with former Central Bank Governor, Julian Frances, during the discussion, Mr. Winder said that in order for the economy to grow, there must be some form of competition.

“I think it goes back to competitiveness.

“We live in a global world. It’s going to be a long time before internal investment becomes a major driver of wealth in the Bahamas.

“Today and for some time to come that wealth is going to be driven primarily by external forces. So, we need to have certain things in place so we can spread what I call the wealth throughout the country,” Mr. Winder said.

Mr. Winder added that external investments are unlikely until the cost of energy, land reform, as well as tax incentives are addressed.