Bahamas News
US VP Kamala Harris and PM Davis Co-Host US-Caribbean Leaders Meeting, in The Bahamas
NASSAU, The Bahamas — Vice-President of the United States Kamala Harris arrived in The Bahamas on Air Force 2, landing at Odyssey Aviation, on June 8, 2023. She became the highest-ranking sitting US official to visit The Bahamas, since its Independence in 1973. Vice-President Harris joined Prime Minister and Minister Finance the Hon. Philip Davis in co-hosting the US-Caribbean Leaders Meeting, which was held at Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island, Thursday.
Among those there to greet her upon her arrival were Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Public Service the Hon. Frederick Mitchell; Minister of Education and Technical & Vocational Training the Hon. Glenys Hanna-Martin; Minister of State for the Public Service the Hon. Pia Glover-Rolle; US Charge d’Affaires, a.i., Ms. Usha E. Pitts; senior
representatives of the Royal Bahamas Police and Defence Forces and a combined forces Colour Guard; special invited guests; civic and social group representatives; local members of her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority family; and students from a number of public and private schools.
As her convoy made its way to Paradise Island, scores of onlookers – many of them tourists who were on vacation – cheered and waved, many with cellphones in hand to capture a glimpse of the historic visit.
Before the US-Caribbean Leaders Meeting, Prime Minister Davis greeted Vice-President Harris and they were the leads in a Bilateral Meeting. Also present for that meeting were various Cabinet Ministers.
According to the Office of the Prime Minister’s social media pages, both nations reaffirmed their commitment to fortify connections and address important regional concerns by building on their prior engagements. Their dialogue also reportedly paved the way for a successful summit, later that day, with a focus on attaining goals for sustainable development and climate resilience. Topics that were discussed, according to the Prime Minister’s social media pages, were collaboration and progress on climate change, regional security, and economic development.
After the Bilateral meeting, they took part in the multilateral US-Caribbean Leaders Meeting. During his Public Opening Statement to the Press, Prime Minister Davis welcomed visiting “friends and colleagues” to The Bahamas.
“Today, we are very pleased to welcome Vice-President Harris to join our Caribbean nations,” Prime Minister Davis said. “Madam Vice-President: I believe we all feel and appreciate the depth and sincerity of your commitment to the region and to our people. We will make the most of our time together, I’m sure.
“Indeed, our discussions will cover a broad range of issues: Energy and Food Security, Climate Resilience, Development Finance and Economic Opportunity, and Regional Co-operation and Security,” he added. “The agenda is ambitious – reflecting the urgency of addressing these challenges, and the real opportunity we see to make progress.”
Prime Minister Davis pointed out that they were not “starting anew”; but were building on the work and dialogue of June 2022’s Summit of the Americas, in Los Angeles, and in regional meetings held since.
“Coming together here in The Bahamas, let us seize the moment — to accelerate and deepen our engagement, and to work together to produce tangible outcomes,” he said.
“Madam Vice-President: it has been many years since we had an official visit from a President or Vice-President of The United States,” Prime Minister Davis added. “You hosted us very graciously at the White House earlier this year, and today I have the honour of extending to you our warmest welcome.
“We look forward to working together in close partnership to build solutions and a better way forward for us all.”
During her remarks, Vice-President Harris congratulated The Bahamas and CARICOM on their respective 50th anniversaries.
She also pointed out that as neighbors, the United States shared common bonds and interests with the Caribbean nations. She added that the partnership, was essential to “our mutual security and prosperity.”
“Our nations have extensive people-to-people ties,” Vice-President Harris said. “In fact, in the United States this month, we celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month.”
She added: “Strengthening the U.S.-Caribbean relationship is a priority for me, as it is for President Joe Biden. And these meetings have proven — I believe, at a leader level, have proven to be very important and essential to the strength of these relationships.”
Vice-President Harris noted that, regarding the “existential threat” of the climate crisis, Caribbean nations were on the front lines. She pointed out that the US and regional leaders had discussed, for example, powerful storms that can wipe out economic progress; low-lying islands that face erosion, flooding, and deadly storm surge from rising seas.
“These discussions resulted in the launch of our U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis — or, as we call it, PACC 2030 — last year at the Summit of the Americas,” she noted. “PACC 2030 is designed to help accelerate the Caribbean’s transition to clean energy and to promote energy security and climate resilience.”
Vice-President Harris stated that, since they last met in Los Angeles in 2022, the United States had helped to facilitate clean energy projects throughout the region.
She said: “I’ll offer some examples: in St. Lucia, the work that we have done thus far to deploy solar microgrids to power schools, hospitals, and water treatment plants; Dominica and St. Kitts, to develop commercial geothermal power projects; Antigua and Barbuda, to train a clean energy workforce; and the Dominican Republic, to integrate battery storage in their energy grid.”
“Our work together has also helped build capacity for disaster preparedness,” she added. “For example, the administrator of NOAA led a group of U.S. experts to Barbados to support regional resilience, including early warning systems and sharing climate information with communities.”
Vice President Harris said that they established a network of Caribbean-based scientific experts to create new climate mitigation and adaptation methods; and in Jamaica, they are helping develop a national emergency commercial infrastructure and communications infrastructure.
“Since we last met, we have also worked to bring investors to the Caribbean to identify new opportunities for clean energy infrastructure, including through trade missions,” she said. “We have provided $28 million in food security assistance. And we have invested in the Blue-Green Investment Corporation, spearheaded by Barbados, which we expect to unlock up to $210 million over three years.”
Vice-President Harris pointed out that it was her pleasure to announce additional PACC 2030 investments.
She said: “One, specifically, a $20 million investment in the Caribbean Climate Investment Program to help incentivize the private sector to partner with Caribbean nations to develop more clean energy technologies, like microgrids and energy storage systems, and to help businesses become more energy efficient in their operations.”
“And, second, a $15 million investment to support emergency response efforts and strengthen the capacity of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency,” she added. “This investment is intended to help develop new early warning systems and pre-position first aid equipment and generators.”
“As a follow-up to this convening, in fact, tomorrow the Atlantic Council and RMI are hosting a PACC 2030 summit here in Nassau,” Vice-President Harris announced. “There, we will work with these and other organizations to facilitate connections between the United States government, the private sector, NGOs, and philanthropic organizations, and officials here in the Caribbean to identify, build, and operate new clean energy projects.”
She noted that another key area of the United States’ work with the Caribbean, through PACC 2030, was to increase access to development financing. She added that, to that end, she met with the new President of the World Bank, Ajay Banga, earlier that week, and informed him that the United States will lead a diplomatic campaign on multilateral development bank reform.
“My conversations with the leaders at this table helped inform our administration’s approach,” she revealed. “We seek more available and — availability of low-cost concessional financing to nations in the Caribbean. And we believe addressing the climate crisis should be a critical part of the mission of the World Bank.
“More broadly, new debt must include disaster clauses to allow a pause on debt payments immediately following a natural disaster.”
Vice-President Harris pointed out that they wanted the bank to better mobilize the private sector in support of those goals.
“Implementation of these reforms will have a major impact on countries in the Caribbean, and we aim to achieve these key reforms by the G20 meeting this fall,” she said.
“At my invitation, President Banga will join our meeting today virtually in just a few minutes.”
Vice-President Harris said that, on the issue of security, too many people in all of their countries were dying from gun violence.
“I will reiterate that our administration is committed to disrupt gun trafficking,” she said. “We are committed to interdict shipments of arms and ammunition and hold traffickers accountable.”
“And today, I am pleased to announce that the United States Department of Justice will create a new position, a Coordinator for Caribbean Firearms Prosecutions, which will help maximize information sharing between our countries to support the prosecution of traffickers,” Vice-President Harris shared.
“This effort will be aided by the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Biden signed last year, and includes new federal criminal offenses for firearms trafficking and straw purchases,” she added.
Vice-President Harris noted that, in addition, through the U.S. law enforcement agencies, they were supporting a recently established Caribbean Crime Gun Intelligence Unit in Trinidad and Tobago to train officials in firearms investigations and help bring criminals to justice.
“And we will stand up a Haiti Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit in collaboration with the Haitian National Police to facilitate investigation and prosecution of firearms and human trafficking, which affects the entire region,” she said.
“More broadly on the issue of Haiti: First, I will say that our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones and all who have been impacted by, just this week alone, the flooding and the earthquake,” she added. “The international community must continue to support the Haitian people in light of the devastating humanitarian and security crisis in that country.”
Vice-President Harris stated that the United States supported the development of a multinational force to Haiti.
“And today I’m pleased to announce $53.7 million in new humanitarian aid for Haiti,” she added. “In addition, our administration will support the extension of HOPE-HELP trade preferences for Haiti, which are due for renewal in 2025.”
Vice-President Harris noted that, in response to “longstanding requests from our Caribbean partners”, she was pleased to announce that the Biden-Harris administration had begun to process to establish an expanded diplomatic presence in the Eastern Caribbean, including two new embassies.
She said: “In conclusion: From the climate crisis, to development financing, to security, and Haiti and diplomatic presence, we have achieved substantial progress in the last two years based on shared priorities, many of which have been formed and discussed through these convenings that we have had over the last two years.”
“We are neighbors in the Western Hemisphere,” Vice-President Harris noted. “And the security and prosperity of this region requires the type of collaboration and partnership that we have developed and continued to grow over the last two years.
“It is the full intention of our administration and the United States to continue this good work, knowing, of course, there is more to do but that progress has been made. And so, again, I thank the leaders at this table and, Mr. Prime Minister, you, again, for hosting us.”
After the Multilateral Meeting, Vice-President Harris left Paradise Island, her convoy passing more waving onlookers – and rush-hour traffic – before being greeted back at Odyssey Aviation by the Colour Guard. Minister Mitchell, Ms. Usha Pitts, representative heads of the Royal Bahamas Defence and Police Forces, and members of local US Embassy bade her farewell.
As she waved from the top of the stairs, she appeared to pause a little, to catch a glimpse of the setting sun, before she entered Air Force 2.
(BIS Photos/Eric Rose)
Nassau, THE BAHAMAS – From pressures on the independence of the US Federal Reserve and relations with China to the instability facing the global economic landscape and how it all impacts The Bahamas’ economy and prospects, Tuesday’s Central Banking Series hosted
by University of The Bahamas (UB) in partnership with the Global Interdependence Center (GIC) peeled back the layers of the most critical factors impacting the world’s economic landscape.
At the one-day summit, top economic strategists, policymakers, academics, and economists gave frank and considered insights on the range of opportunities and challenges. In facilitating the high-level talks, UB’s Government and Public Policy Institute (GPPI) continues to provide the platform for evidence-based dialogue on public policy and reform.
“By convening world-class thinkers, policymakers, and practitioners here in Nassau, we affirm that The Bahamas is not solely a subject of global economic forces, but also a participant in the conversations that shape them,” said UB President Dr. Robert Blaine, III.
In his remarks, Minister of Economic Affairs Senator the Honourable Michael Halkitis acknowledged the ripple effects of financial shifts which put pressure on the Bahamian economy, yet he acknowledged that the economy is on the rise. He expressed confidence in the country’s readiness to adapt, citing a deep talent pool and expanding foreign and domestic investments.
“What makes this period particularly significant is the breadth of investment activity across sectors,” said Minister Halkitis, a UB alumnus. “Tourism development remains strong, but it is not the sole driver of growth. Investments are expanding into renewable energy, maritime services, digital infrastructure, agriculture, logistics and the blue and green economies.”
Economist and Former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve of Richmond, Dr. Jeffrey Lacker offered a sobering view on the independence of the US Federal Reserve, a topic that has attracted much national and international in the face of blistering pronouncements by US President Donald Trump.
Dr. Lacker said the Federal Reserve’s choice of monetary policy instrument and setting of the overnight interest rate that it controls should
be “free of executive branch and congressional meddling.”
“And by meddling, what I mean is overtly expressed policy direction, opinions about where policies should go, expressed in a way that carries with it the implied threat of adverse consequences to either the individual or the institution, either in the form of legislative changes or some sort of political harassment,” he said.
“The value of insulating day-to-day, meeting-to-meeting monetary policy from pressure from elected officials with an eye on their next election is widely recognized. Neglecting that pressure, caving into that pressure is a road to short-termism, or short-term stimulus at the cost of inflation later on.”
Other pertinent conversations at the summit focused on digital initiatives for financial inclusion, monetary and fiscal policies and strategies in The Bahamas, and the impact of AI on macroeconomic conditions. There was also a special presentation on the history and value of gold. Students from Government High School were among the audience members gaining knowledge from experts.
“When we determined the theme for this year, being Challenges and Opportunities in a Dynamic Global Environment, we did not know what was going to evolve in recent times,” said GPPI Executive Director Zhivargo Laing, referring to the war that the US and Israel initiated against Iran. “So I would like to think that maybe there was a little bit of insight that was taking place during the course of our discussions. But we are here again for the third time with our partners at the GIC to entertain a deep discussion on just what are those challenges and opportunities in this very dynamic environment in which we find ourselves.”
Nassau, The Bahamas — The People’s Republic of China, in the span of two decades, has transformed itself into an economic superpower the world can scarcely function without. This was one of the perspectives that added context to crucial conversations about the US-China outlook at the Central Banking Summit held at University of The Bahamas (UB) on Tuesday.
“China has gone from being, conceptually, a non-economy. It has gone from being a $2 trillion economy in 2000; today it is a $20 trillion
economy. There has never been growth like that anywhere on the planet,” said Michael Drury, chief economist, McVean Trading.
In the Caribbean region and for The Bahamas, China has become both a critical link in the global supply chain and, at times, a financial partner when the price tag of major infrastructure projects proves difficult to carry alone.
During the summit, facilitated by UB’s Government and Public Policy Institute (GPPI) in partnership with the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), the outlook on US-China relations and how the world will be impacted was a key topic of discussion.
Drury appeared on a panel with Zhivargo Laing, Executive Director of UB’s GPPI. Both gave insight into China’s rapid economic rise and its growing influence over global manufacturing and trade.
“The wish was that China would become a capitalist democracy, and it was on its way there until President Xi Jinping took control of the country in 2012. [Xi] is a Marxist. When you are a Marxist, you believe capitalism will destroy itself,” Drury explained.
Drury, who also serves as an executive and assistant program director with the GlC, noted that the statistics surrounding China’s meteoric manufacturing expansion often evoke strong reactions when presented to audiences across the US.
“The solution for the United States in freeing itself from China’s manufacturing dominance is to find somewhere it can produce goods without depending on China. There is no such place on earth. China produces 30 percent of all manufactured goods,” he said.
The discussion also examined recent efforts by the US to reclaim manufacturing capacity and reverse trends Washington believes could compromise national security.
“The spoken goal of wanting to return manufacturing to the United States essentially means restoring enough production capacity to support national defence,” Drury explained. “The auto industry built the bombers and tanks during World War II. If you don’t have an auto industry, you don’t have an industry you can flip into national defence production.”
For The Bahamas, the geopolitical dynamics has become increasingly challenging to navigate with the latest example being the proposed
specialty hospital project for which the Government of The Bahamas has secured Chinese financial backing. In response, the US, through its newly appointed ambassador, has publicly encouraged The Bahamas to reconsider the arrangement.
Laing, former Minister of Economic Affairs and a UB graduate, offered this contextual view: that The Bahamas understands the importance of maintaining strong relationships with both global powers.
“If we were going to have concerns about any country being overly influential in The Bahamas, it would be the United States of America. Why? Eighty-plus percent of our tourism comes from the United States. We have one of the only U.S. pre-clearance facilities in the world. There are substantial American investments in The Bahamas. Our currency is pegged to the United States. And if we ever needed help in this country, we have no doubt who we would turn to,” Laing said.
Laing noted that the influence of the United States extends beyond economics and geopolitics into the cultural and personal realms.
“We love to go to the United States. We go for education, healthcare, and socializing. But for practical reasons, we also nurture relationships with countries around the world. The Bahamas is not a war state.”
As competition between the two global giants intensifies, Laing offered this advice for policymakers navigating the geopolitical landscape.
“It will continue to be very competitive between these two giants, and if I were advising policymakers in The Bahamas, I would say: keep hugging your friends and shaking the hands of your associates.”
Bahamas News
Dredging Is Not Just About Size — It Is About What Is Being Destroyed, Warns Save Exuma Alliance Regarding Yntegra’s Proposed Rosewood Resort
Save Exuma Alliance (SEA) — a coalition of Central Exuma business owners, tour operators and residents — has warned that the issue of dredging in the North Bay of Sampson Cay, Exuma, is not just about the number of acres being dredged – but what exists within the proposed dredge area. SEA describes the site as an ecological treasure trove filled with seagrass, coral, turtles and abundant marine life.
This comes after foreign developer Yntegra agreed to reduce the scope of its dredging following government warnings that it would impact
The Bahamas carbon credit status, which shows the importance of the marine habitat.
“It is easy to point to other developments and say they are dredging more, but that is not comparing like with like,” SEA said in response to comparisons made by Yntegra. “If one area is largely sand with little marine life, that is very different from what we have in North Bay. Anyone who has spent time there can tell you it is filled with turtles, fish, and — critically — the seagrass and coral that provide essential habitat.”
Miami-based investment group Yntegra is seeking to construct a large-scale Rosewood-branded resort on Sampson Cay. Since its announcement, the project has generated environmental, social and economic concerns among residents and business operators in Central Exuma.
The proposed development includes dredging in North Bay, construction of a substantial seawall that would alter natural water flow, more than 100 structures, two mega yacht marinas, and an industrial dock serviced by fuel and supply ships in an area currently used by swimmers. Opponents argue that the scale and design of Yntegra’s Rosewood Exuma project are incompatible with the fragile ecosystem and cultural character of the Central Exumas.
SEA noted that the government’s Climate Change Unit has also raised concerns about the environmental cost of dredging associated with Yntegra’s Rosewood Exuma project.
“The government has acknowledged that this is an area of significant importance,” SEA said. “While the financial implications are serious, for us here in Exuma this is about more than money. It underscores how valuable this marine ecosystem is — the seagrass, coral and marine life that make Exuma exceptional. This is what attracts visitors from around the world. We should not minimize the concern by comparing this bay to areas that do not have the same remarkable underwater ecosystem. It is simply not the same.”
Experienced boat captain Tito Baldwin also questioned the feasibility of the marine infrastructure proposed as part of this plan. He warned
that the dredging currently outlined would not be sufficient to accommodate the vessels required to service the project.
“It’s going to have to be at least four times larger than what has been proposed,” Baldwin said. “As designed, it is beyond possibility.”
He explained that vessels supplying fuel, construction materials and provisions for a projected 300-person workforce would require significantly greater depth and maneuvering space.
“For supply vessels delivering hundreds of thousands of gallons of diesel, you’re looking at ships with a 10-foot draft,” Baldwin said. “To operate safely, you would need at least 13 feet of depth. That means dredging far deeper than what has been proposed. With currents running east and west in that area, you would also need a much wider turning basin to maneuver safely. As it stands, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible.”
SEA is urging individuals concerned about the environmental impact of dredging connected to Yntegra’s Rosewood Exuma project to visit www.saveexumaalliance.org for more information. A petition calling for a halt to approvals is also available on the site, with more than 7,100 signatures collected to date.
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