The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government’s two-pronged approach to upgrading the Immigration Department’s treatment of financial services applications “should bolster then reputation of the country as a place to do business”, a Cabinet Minister said yesterday.

Disclosing that he had submitted “detailed policy recommendations” to both the Prime Minister and Minister of Immigration on how financial services permit applications be treated, Ryan Pinder said the Department was also enhancing its processes.

The Minister of Financial Services said the Government had recognised the industry’s special needs, and in “focusing on the customer service aspect of Immigration”, special offices and ‘project officers’ were being dedicated to the “streamlined advancement” of financial services applications.

Using a Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC) luncheon to praise Fred Mitchell, minister of immigration, for his “progressive” approach to the matter, Mr Pinder said the financial services industry had pledged its support for the “improved infrastructure”.

He suggested that the move be viewed as “a pilot project”, and indicated that if successful it could be copied for other sectors of the Bahamian economy.

“This should bolster the reputation of the country as a place to do business,” Mr Pinder said. “You have to be recognised in the international community as a place for business to occur.”

As for his financial services Immigration policy recommendations, Mr Pinder said they aimed to balance the Bahamas’ human capital and local job creation needs with a progressive policy that encouraged specialist skills and companies to domicile in this nation.

Disclosing that ‘permanent residency with a right to work in your own business’ “may become a defined” permit category,” Mr Pinder said the proposed policy aimed to introduce “transparency” for incoming labour.

“We’re trying to put in a framework that balances all the interests,” the Minister said, adding that capital investment, Bahamian participation and the National Investment Policy were all factors meriting consideration.

Mr Pinder added that the policy would have to be finalised by Mr Mitchell, and brought to Cabinet for approval.

Elsewhere, Mr Pinder said the Bahamas and its financial services sector would receive a further boost from the upgrades to company incorporations on-line.

“The Attorney General’s Office is going full steam ahead with an electronic companies registry, something I have been informed, at the highest levels, will cause significant growth in business incorporations and new structures for their clients in the Bahamas,” Mr Pinder said.