The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

A Canadian diplomat yesterday revealed that 12 of Canada’s most “progressive” companies will be present today for a Dorian-related reconstruction forum being held at the Melia resort.

Laurie Peters, Canadian High Commissioner to The Bahamas and Jamaica, told Tribune Business that the delegation will spearhead the forum for Dorian relief.

Affirming that the Canadian government has already “done much” on Hurricane Dorian relief efforts, Ms Peters said of today’s forum: “It’s not a funding session, but what we have done is that we have answered the call to make sure The Bahamas is open for business.

“So we have brought in a trade delegation - a trade mission of 12 companies - with everything from renewable energy to infrastructure building materials to actively engage not only with the government but with other Bahamian companies to look at how to build back better.”

She said the forum will be “targeted” to suit the Bahamas’s needs, adding that it was being held on the back of yesterday’s Bahamas Business Outlook conference. The 12 Canadian firms have a broad range of expertise in areas that include “designing and implementing technologies that address climate related challenges.”

Ms Peters said: “This is an opportunity to do some matchmaking to make sure we are aligned with the needs that have been identified, so it was great that on Monday at the pledging conference the seven priorities were clearly defined so we can align ourselves with those needs.”

Dr Hubert Minnis, the prime minister, told the Bahamas Business Outlook conference that these seven priority areas are housing; the environment; debris clean-up; education; health; infrastructure; and the economy. “From these reconstruction delivery plans, we have identified and prepared specific project concepts,” he added.

Ms Peters, meanwhile, told the conference: “We, of course, provided important humanitarian assistance through funding $500,000 Canadian dollars to be immediately made available to the Red Cross.”