By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas is receiving less than 50 per cent of the projected economic impact associated with many foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chairman yesterday saying there had been “surprisingly little trickle down”.

Gowon Bowe, addressing the Rotary Club of West Nassau, said: “When they went back and looked back at the foreign direct investment going as far back as the 1980s, they have been surprised by the actual trickle down effect  because what we think is trickling down really isn’t.

“It’s shocking,” added Mr Bowe, who is involved with the National Development Plan’s crafting. “I will wait for those results to be released, but in reality it’s far less than 50 per cent of what people say in the project’s development, because by the time concessions and other elements are factored in, in reality often times it’s only the employment  that trickles into the economy.

“While the number sounds large, 4,000-5,000, when we talk about a 200,000 working population it puts it into perspective.”

Commenting on the Bahamas’ stubbornly high unemployment rate, Mr Bowe said the 4,000-5,000 jobs which were expected to be created through Baha Mar’s opening have to be viewed in the context of the overall jobless situation, particularly among young Bahamians.

“Baha Mar was going to be 4,000-5,000 jobs, but let’s put that into the context of our unemployment sitting at 15-16 per cent,” he said.  “I’m not one who gets enamoured by the increase and decrease that takes place from one period to the next.

“If we look at the long-term rates, they are going to be in the double digits and the high teens. Once we get back to the reality of our high school leavers, our youth unemployment sitting at near 30 per cent on a long-term basis is disheartening, and something that we as a country have to figure out. How are we going to  develop as a nation if we are losing generations, not individuals.”