NASSAU, The Bahamas – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs the Hon. Allyson Maynard-Gibson said recently that The Bahamas continues to be a major player in the success of South Florida’s economy.
The Attorney General said The Bahamas ranks 14th among the 25 top countries in total U.S. exports – based on dollar value – via Florida.
She said Florida continues to accrue “considerable economic benefits” as a result of its relationship with The Bahamas as merchants in Florida “continue to demonstrate their confidence in the Bahamian market to Florida by regularly advertising sales and other bargains in our local press in an attempt to attract shoppers to Florida.”
She said Florida is expected to benefit from the impending construction boom that will hit The Bahamas as a result of “several billion dollars of investments in big tourism developments that are in the pipeline”, because a significant amount of the raw materials to be used in the construction of those developments will be imported from Florida.
Addressing a luncheon hosted in honor of Florida Governor Jeb Bush in one of her final acts as Minister of Financial Services and Investments, Attorney General Maynard-Gibson said the dollar amount of exports from the United States to The Bahamas, as of October, 2005, was approximately $1.4 billion dollars, while the import amount from The Bahamas to the United States was approximately $624 million, representing a trade imbalance of $823 million.
She said the figures were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Foreign Trade Division through its Data Dissemination Branch.
Attorney General Maynard-Gibson said The Bahamas’ contribution to the success of the economy of Florida goes even further, as the country ranks 26th out of the top 50 merchandise import origins and 19th among Florida’s top 50 merchandise trading partners.
“These statistics are significant given the size of our country and its population when compared to other countries on the same lists,” Attorney General Maynard-Gibson said. “Furthermore, these figures do not take into account the vast number of Bahamians in schools or colleges in the United States of America.”
The Attorney General said Florida continues to “benefit tremendously” from the fact that many of the more than five million visitors that now annually visit The Bahamas do so through Florida.
She said the Port of Miami, Port Everglades and Cape Canaveral and Miami and Fort Lauderdale International Airports are the primary beneficiaries of the influx of travelers to The Bahamas.
“The relationship between the United States of America and The Bahamas has always been special,” Attorney General Maynard-Gibson said. “Today, The Bahamas and Florida remain linked through strong cultural and family ties, as well as trade and business relationships.
“As Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie recently stated, ‘The good faith relationship between Florida and The Bahamas, not just as a trading partner, but as a state that has an enormous number of Bahamians or descendants of Bahamians living there, should ensure that any issues affecting either Florida or The Bahamas, be dealt with in a constructive manner’,” the Attorney General added.
