WASHINGTON, DC – Investment opportunities in the Bahamas were highlighted during a reception at the Bahamas Embassy hosted by Dr Elliston Rahming, permanent representative to the Organisation of American States.

Addressing more than 100 lawyers and a cross-section of other professionals from Washington’s business community, Dr Rahming welcomed the guests “not only to the Bahamas Embassy, but to the Bahamas”.

He explained that while in many respects, the Bahamas is like every other Caribbean country, there were some distinct differences.

“We are very close to the United States, fewer than 100 miles from the southern tip of Florida,” Dr Rahming said. “So one can get to the Bahamas from Miami in, let’s say, 20 minutes. You can get from Washington, DC to Nassau, and certainly Freeport, in two-plus hours.”

He also mentioned the country’s “political stability” as something which Bahamians are very proud of.

“We became an independent country on the 10th of July, 1973. In fact, we are now celebrating our 40th anniversary of independence,” Dr Rahming said.

“So we have come through some seven elections since then, all of which were conducted without any hint of violence and with a vote of participation rate that hoovers around 94 per cent. We think that throughout the hemisphere, that is among the highest. So we are proud of ourselves and our democratic traditions.”

Dr Rahming delegated responsibility for promoting investment opportunities in the Bahamas to Deputy Chief of Mission Chet Neymour, an economist who is an expert in that area.

Mr Neymour noted that the Bahamas has a “long tradition of friendly relations” with the United States, adding that “our relations have been diplomatic and it has also been economic”.

“From the economic perspective we have been participants in the Caribbean Basin Initiative, which allows for investment to take place under the umbrella of the overall vehicle that allows Caribbean countries to bring in duty-free items in specific areas,” Mr Neymour said.

“In 1994, in order to probably put a little bit more structure to the amount of investments coming to the Bahamas, we established an investment policy. That’s about 19 years ago and we have been trying to tweak it as we go along.”

Mr Neymour said the idea was to establish a clear definition “of what was allowed for foreign investments and what was allowed for domestic investments.”

He listed the areas for foreign investment, emphasising tourism and the $2.2 billion Baha Mar mega project, due for completion in December of 2014.

“What I have noticed is that a number of you here tonight come from the legal profession,” Mr Neymour added. “We have a lot of local lawyers who conduct business through and with US firms and a number of our real estate transactions also involve members of the US Bar. So there are a lot of opportunities for persons in the legal field to invest in the Bahamas and to network with lawyers in the Bahamas.”

Mr Neymour noted that the Bahamas has a functioning Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the United States and other jurisdictions, adding that banking and financial services are “investment areas in which we have been co-operating with the US”.

“Unlike many of our competitors we have always been and continue to be a pristine and well respected financial jurisdiction,” he said.

He also noted that the new government of the Bahamas re-established the Ministry of Financial Services and Investments, led by Ryan Pinder, “a very young, vibrant minister, who ironically is US trained lawyer”.