By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman will this coming Monday lead a 20-strong private sector delegation to Haiti, telling Tribune Business yesterday he was “pretty enthusiastic” about the potential business opportunities that could be opened up.
Chester Cooper said the Bahamian delegation featured “some very senior and prominent businesspersons” from diverse industries, including the tourism, medical, construction and financial services sectors.
Describing the Haiti trade mission as a “win-win scenario”, Mr Cooper said that while some felt investing outside the Bahamas was detrimental to this country, it instead gave this nation’s businesses and workforce the opportunity to export their products and expertise.
“It’s going exceptionally well,” Mr Cooper told Tribune Business. “I’ll be leading a delegation of 20 businesspersons on Monday from a diverse cross-section of various businesses......
“We have some very senior and prominent businesspersons on the trip itself. I’m very pleased with the response regarding interest in travelling to Haiti and potential business opportunities.
“Sometimes businesspersons look at these missions as investing outside the Bahamas to the detriment of the country, but this is a win-win scenario.
“Investing abroad is good for the Bahamas, and we encourage this as an opportunity to export our goods, services, expertise and products. We’re keen about the potential opportunities in Haiti, and have a very strong contingent of individuals going down on this mission.”
After arriving in Port au Prince, where they will be received by the Haitian government and their Chamber counterparts, Mr Cooper said the Bahamian delegation will then travel to Jacmel, one of the country’s largest tourism-related areas, “to look at potential business opportunities” for several of its members.
Haiti’s Trade Ambassador gave a presentation to the BCCEC several months ago on potential business opportunities in the Bahamas’ southern neighbour, which included helping with the earthquake and storm-related reconstruction areas.
Mr Cooper said other areas identified by the ambassador were financial services and insurance, tourism, construction and airport management services.
Noting that other opportunities were likely to present themselves during the trade mission, Mr Cooper said there were also possibilities for partnerships with the Haitian government and joint ventures with companies there.
“I’m pretty enthusiastic about what the prospects could be,” the BCCEC chairman told Tribune Business.
“As a result of the Chamber’s last trade mission to Haiti, there are Bahamian businesses operating in the construction sector. Hopefully, in a few months, we’ll be able to look back at this mission and see tangible and positive outcomes.”
Mr Cooper said the Haiti trip was part of a wider BCCEC initiative to create ‘added value’ for its members, helping them to grow their businesses and prosper. A similar trade mission to Panama is set to be announced shortly.
“This is an opportunity for us to help the value proposition for our members, helping to create some opportunities for their business,” he added.
Noting the long-standing relationship and links between the Bahamas and Haiti, Mr Cooper said increased investment by Bahamian companies in Haiti could only help that country’s economy.
Looking long-term, and from an “utopian” viewpoint, he added that a more prosperous Haiti would accrue to the Bahamas’ benefit by removing the incentive for many to migrate to this nation.
Meanwhile, Mr Cooper said he had heard nothing further in relation to the Bahamas’ embargo on direct agriculture imports from Haiti, something thought to increase the price of food imports from that nation by up to five times’ due to the Florida-based middlemen.
“This is something we remain concerned about, and no doubt it will come up in discussions for the next few days as well as on the ground,” the BCCEC chairman added.
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