By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
The Government is working with the Organisation of American States (OAS) to develop a framework for a Bahamian Competitiveness Council, a Cabinet Minister yesterday suggesting it would help improve this nation’s ‘ease of doing business’.
Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, admitted that the Bahamas’ continuous decline in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings was a major concern.
“One of the key reasons is because many countries are doing lots of reforms,” Mr Rolle told the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) second annual energy forum.
“The ease of doing business has not been keenly addressed in this country for many years. We have to move beyond just advocacy. We have to put institutions in place that are designed, developed and resourced to manage these indicators.”
He added: “We are going to develop the framework, along with the OAS, for a Competitiveness Council. Every single country that is doing well in ease of doing business has a competitiveness council.”
The World Bank’s 2016 rankings saw the Bahamas fall another nine spots in the global rankings to 106th.While the Bahamas saw its rankings for the ‘ease of paying taxes’ and ‘enforcing contracts’ improve, it remained flat or regressed in most other categories - such as ‘Starting a Business’, where it fell to 118th in the world.
The World Bank rated the Bahamas 133rd on the ‘ease of getting credit’ and 94th for construction permits, while also giving this nation low marks for ‘getting electricity’, ‘registering property’ and ‘protecting minority investors’.
“There are many countries that have seen a measured improvement, countries that were much worse than the Bahamas, but they have changed by leaps and bounds because they have a focused approach and a dedicated entity that is guiding their improvement in the ease of doing business,” said Mr Rolle.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID