The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas may need to implement an initiative similar to the US H-1B Visa programme if Grand Bahama is to fulfill its 'technology hub' dream, it was argued yesterday.

The US initiative facilitates the hiring of specialist foreign workers and entry of persons with advanced degrees, and could be one way to attract technology firms and start-ups via a targeted Immigration policy. And Donald Trump's crackdown on the issuance of H-1B visas could provide an opportunity for the Bahamas to attract such workers.

Kwasi Thompson, minister of state for Grand Bahama, addressing the Grand Bahama Business Outlook conference, said: "The Government is presently looking at ways to attract technology companies; not only with our proximity and infrastructure but also allowing those companies to bring their highly skilled and specialised talent with them.

"This could not only provide training opportunities for Bahamians, but also opportunities for Bahamians abroad to come home. It could also provide that population critical mass that our retail and other businesses so desperately need."

The Minnis administration has indicated its intention to make Grand Bahama a 'technology hub', with Mr Thompson yesterday touting the success of last November's conference on the island, which he said will become an annual event. The Prime Minister has asked Mr Thompson to assemble a steering committee, who will take the best ideas from the summit and transform them into immediate strategic plans for developing a technology industry on Grand Bahama.

Ian Rolle, the Grand Bahama Port Authority's (GBPA) president, while speaking at the Outlook conference said that a unique Immigration policy similar to the US H-1B visa programme could spark technology sector development.

The H-1B visa programme allows US employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. The US caps H-1B visas at 65,000 a year, and allows an additional 20,000 visas for people who have earned advanced college degrees in the US.

"That programme in the US attracts foreign, highly-skilled workers to the US," Mr Rolle said. "The tech industry normally uses these types of visa progrmmes. Since President Trump assumed office he has made it very difficult for persons to renew these permits or apply for them. "I see tremendous opportunity for Freeport to grow its population in a meaningful way, and in a short period of time. Imagine if we had 10,000 of these high-tech persons coming to Freeport. They make on average $86,000 to $90,000 a year."

Mr Rolle said that apart from work permit fees, such persons would inject significant capital into local communities. "If they spend at east 60 per cent of their wages in the communities that's about $500 million," he added.