Grand Bahamians will begin to see a boost in their economy, as promised, by next month according to Press Secretary Anthony Newbold. He made the announcement yesterday during a press briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Referencing the Speech from the Throne, Mr. Newbold said that this initiative begins to answer the question many have been asking regarding the Minnis administration’s plans for the country.

“All anyone who is interested has to do is open a copy of the Speech from the Throne and start reading!” he said.

“My government will focus on the development of Freeport as an offshore technology hub,” Mr. Newbold quoted from the document.

To begin the process, Grand Bahama will be the host to a summit in November that will see participation from many international corporations.

“The country will see the beginning of what the Prime Minister believes will be the blossoming of a new industry for The Bahamas, and one that citizens will be happy and proud to participate in.

“The Grand Bahama Technology Summit will take place for two days.

“It begins the dialogue with key industry stakeholders, policy makers and the general public in shaping the policy to govern how this new initiative and industry will work,” Mr. Newbold said.

Stakeholders for the summit includes Google, Hewlett Packard (HP), Microsoft, Dell Samsung, and Huawei.

Mr. Newbold also revealed that during the two-day Summit, November 9th and 10th,

“One of the highlights of the Summit will be the Blue Marlin Business Innovation challenge where potential entrepreneurs will get to showcase their inventions.

“We are providing opportunities and access for entrepreneurs; bringing Silicon Valley to Grand Bahama.

“That’s creating the environment for private businesses to flourish instead of the government trying to run a business,” Mr. Newbold said.

Now to establish Grand Bahama as the technology hub, there will be a legislation; a bill for an act for the designation of specified commercial enterprises and specified commercial zones in The Bahamas.

“The bill seeks to liberalize the granting of work permits to an enterprise that wishes to establish itself in The Bahamas and requires work permits for its management team and key personnel,” Mr. Newbold said.

Scheduled to participate in the Summit are a number of Grand Bahamians who are currently living abroad. They include Dr. Gadryn Higgs, who is involved in development in Silicon Valley, USA; Mr. Laron Burrows, a 26-year-old inventor of medical devices; and Ms. Aisha Bowe, a former employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), who now serves as Chief Executive Officer of STEM Board in Washington, D.C.