Bahamas `faces challenges` to maintain standard of living Wednesday, July 25th 2007   MINISTER of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing talks about the challenges to the standard of living in the Bahamas at the first ever Minister`s Forum at the Chamber of Commerce Week Thursday, July 19, 2007. MINISTER of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing said that major challenges must he met if Bahamians are to continue enjoying a standard of living in line with more developed countries. Addressing business leaders at the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce`s "Meet the Minister" forum. Mr Laing called for the economic empowerment of more Bahamians. He said this would require the creation of income-earning opportunities for thousands of unemployed Bahamians and more profitable business opportunities for existing businesses. Economic empowerment, the minister said, also meant finding business opportunities for entrepreneurs. He said there is also the challenge of what is called "global integration management". "For decades The Bahamas has benefited from its participation in the world community without any real formal integration into the international trading system. But the world is now saying that life can no longer be unilateral, it has to be reciprocal, and they are now asking us to become fish or fowl when it comes to the international trading system," Mi Laing said. As a result, he said, there has been all kinds of "alphabets" added to the Bahamian vocabulary, including the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas Agreement) and the CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy). Mr Laing said these are all part and parcel of the requirement or the demands being placed on the country by the international community. He said the Bahamas has perhaps the "hottest and most valuable commodity" to be found on the globe today. "That commodity is lifestyle. When you take the environment, servility and stability combined, we have one of the finest qualities of life to be offered. But we stand the risk, if we do not manage our economic development going forward, of damaging that lifestyle, which is that asset we have. Consequently, sustainability has to be a part of our planning going forward," Mr Laing said. He said sustainability is the third challenge to keeping the country`s development ongoing. Mr Laing said fiscal prudence is the final challenge facing The Bahamas."Government spending and revenue policy should be managed so the productive sector is protected in terms of its assets, access to credit, or from the creation of too harsh a burden on future generations, to service our consumption of things today, at the expense of those children tomorrow," he said. Mr Laing noted that while 20 per cent of the income generated in the country is created by the public sector, 80 per cent is created by the private sector. So the vast majority of the resources in the country rest with or comes from the private sector, he said. Minister Laing said dialogue then between the two sectors is extremely important to keep The Bahamas at a level if it wants to continue being the third highest per capita country in the Americas. Source - The Tribune

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