By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman yesterday urged the Government to focus on ‘spin-off’ opportunities generated for Bahamian businesses by foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, suggesting these accounted for 65 per cent of their economic activities.
Suggesting that the Bahamas tended to focus “myopically” on the job creation aspects of projects such as Baha Mar, Chester Cooper said it should instead place emphasis on the ‘procurement’ and other opportunities for local businesses and entrepreneurs.
Arguing that this might better stimulate economic activity and job creation, thus helping to reduce the 16.2 per cent official unemployment rate, Mr Cooper said direct employment opportunities would not be available at Baha Mar’s Cable Beach project for another 12-15 months.
“On projects like this the assessment must be made on whether economic activity may be better stimulated trough the procurement aspects of the development,” the BCCEC chairman said
“We tend to focus myopically on the number of work permits, but from what I gather the labour component would only be 35 per cent of a typical project ,with the remainder being in procurement, logistics etc. The question is: Are there some potential opportunities there in that 65 per cent category that are still not being tapped by the local economy?”
Responding to Tribune Business over the Department of Statistics’ latest Labour Force Survey, Mr Cooper said “the level of youth unemployment remains rather disturbing”.
This was pegged at 30.8 per cent by the Survey, meaning that in May 2013 almost one in three Bahamians aged between 16-24, who were looking for work, could not find it.
“No doubt the question of youth unemployment raises many alarming socio-economic concerns that we ought to be concerned about,” Mr Cooper told Tribune Business.
“There is still a need for a skills gap assessment to ensure that persons who are in college are gearing their studies for the right opportunities.
“Even with Baha Mar on the horizon there still seems to be an aversion to preparing for jobs in tourism itself. There is still a need for a bit of a shift in our thought process with respect to becoming specialists in the field of tourism, or even investing in the space for that matter.”
Mr Cooper said the Bahamas’ unemployment levels “remain startling, but not surprising”.
The Labour Force Survey said both New Providence and Grand Bahama experienced increases in their unemployment rates compared to November 2012.
In the case of the former, the rate increased from 13.1 per cent to 15.9 per cent, and in the latter, from 18 per cent to 19.5 per cent. - meaning that almost one in five Grand Bahamians looking for work cannot find jobs.
“The numbers seem consistent with the benign growth in the economy and the creation of new business,” Mr Cooper added.
“Clearly, more must be done to stimulate economic activity and encourage businesses to make additional investments. We remain concerned that there is not enough being done to encourage domestic investments.
“The level of bureaucracy in the system, the length of time it takes for a Business Licence, an occupancy certificate or Town Planning certificate for signage, remains source of grave concern for the business community,” he added.
“Every little helps in terms of creating a more enabling environment, and making it easier to do business in the Bahamas. I remain concerned that small business, in particular, still does not receive enough focused attention and support given that they are truly the engine that drives the economy.
“This is no cliche. Whilst we sit and wait for FDI, there are many small businesses being formed each day that are finding niches in the economy and employing people. There are still too many closures, too, which speaks again to the business environment and the need for further reform.”
Mr Cooper added that the Department of Statistics report also produced data that was six to eight months old, and “does not speak to the state of affairs today”.
While praising the Department’s work, he added: “In such s dynamic environment it would be helpful to get to a stage where we can receive this information faster. Having said that, there is nothing to indicate any significant change.”
On the positive front, if there is one, the Department of Statistics report noted a 3.1 per cent increase in the size of the labour force to 195,660 persons, with the number employed also increasing.
The number of discouraged workers, who were either not looking, or have given up, looking for work, fell by 26 per cent in New Providence and 47 per cent in Grand Bahama.
The Department of Statistics interpreted this as an encouraging sign, and said the decision by many persons to re-join the labour force was one factor behind the unemployment rate increase.
“As a result of increased prospective business projects, more persons are optimistic about finding jobs and consequently rejoined the labour force,” the Department of Statistics said.
“Hence, the number of persons in the country who previously did not seek employment, but were able and willing to work (discouraged workers), declined by 33 per cent since the last survey.”
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