WASHINGTON, DC – The Bahamas hopes to foster a greater trading and cooperative arrangement with the United States through its participation in the CARICOM and United States Conference on the Caribbean, The Bahamas Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs the Hon. Brent Symonette.
The Bahamas Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham and Minister Symonette, along with Advisor to the Office of the Prime Minister Joshua Sears and Cabinet Secretary Wendell Major are in Washington to participate in the three-day conference aimed at enhancing and strengthening the quality of the relationship between CARICOM and the United States.
Bahamas Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are among CARICOM Heads who met with U.S President George Bush on Wednesday, June 20.
Minister Symonette, who took part in a Monday afternoon CARICOM meeting with U.S Secretary of State Dr. Condeleeza Rice, pointed out that economic regionalism, as well as the growth of good governance in the region, security, counter terrorism and counter narcotics were among issues discussed in that meeting.
“We are here to support CARICOM in our relationship with the rest of our Caribbean nations to try and foster a greater trading and cooperative arrangement with the United States,” Minister Symonette said following Tuesday’s Opening Plenary.
Regarding the strengthening of trade relations with regional and CARICOM countries, and the broadening of trade and business opportunities for Bahamians, Minister Symonette indicated that the government’s plan to eliminate exchange control is a key step in achieving these objectives.
“One of the things investors in the Bahamas are always concerned about is the ability to transfer their funds back to their country of origin,” he noted. “The steps toward the elimination of exchange control are gradually a way to making sure that Bahamians can invest overseas and that residents overseas can invest in The Bahamas.
“Under this government and successive governments you have seen a liberalization of exchange controls for many Bahamians,” Minister Symonette continued. “At present, we will not liberalize the capital inflow but that will come over time as we deal with the issue of foreign exchange reserves.”
Citing the importance of discussions on the financial services sectors of CARICOM countries during the Conference, the Foreign Affairs Minister also pointed to what continues to be a growing concern in the region: the economic effect of deportees from the United States.
“Obviously the deportees are a serious issue because we have very little control over when the U.S deports persons to The Bahamas,” Minister Symonette said. “The whole question the Caribbean is facing now is reintegrating those peoples into our societies and making that sure that the cost of repatriation is not onerous on both sides.”
He pointed out that there are a significant number of Bahamian nationals being deported from the U.S to The Bahamas for a variety of reasons.
Minister Symonette indicated concerns among some CARICOM countries that deportations might be occurring under very strenuous circumstances for the deportees.
He added, however, that he is not aware of Bahamian nationals being exposed to such circumstances upon their deportation from the United States.
On Tuesday afternoon, CARICOM Heads furthered their objective of increasing awareness of Caribbean issues for U.S Congressional representatives during a dialog with the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.
Minister Symonette also took part in that session, where matters of trade and security in the region were discussed.
