The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister has warned that the Bahamas’ financial services competitiveness will continue to slide unless this nation improves its service culture and ‘ease of doing business’.

Hope Strachan, the minister of financial services, said the Bahamas had to “strengthen the service culture” within both the government agencies and private industries that are closely connected to the sector.

“We have to get it together,” she said, while making her contribution to the 2016/2017 Budget debate. “We must strengthen the service culture in governmental and private sector departments that are closely connected to financial services.

“There is a critical need to improve efficiency, accountability, response times and client relations. To be specific, although we have begun some work in these areas, with the new on-line companies registry at the Registrar General’s Department, and with the on-line registration for Business License applications, these initiatives  still need to be coordinated with other departments.”

Mrs Strachan added: “We must realise that we are one Bahamas, and that the experience is holistic. More improvement is needed in Immigration matters and with pro-regulatory agencies.

“Improving efficiency and services is the responsibility of both the Government  and the private sector. We must work together. Our competitors are surpassing us in the ease of doing business. We must improve in technology and innovation.”

Mrs Strachan said that the Bahamas ranked 106th in the World Bank’s 2016 ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report.

“The ease of doing business is critical to the financial serves industry and if we are going to remain competitive. We have got to get it together or else we are going to  find ourselves in a position where we are uncompetitive. There there is much room for improvement  when it comes to the ease of doing business,” she said.