By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister says "the only way to look is up" when it comes to The Bahamas' 118th ranking in the World Bank's "ease of doing business" index.

Kwasi Thompson, pictured, minister of state for Grand Bahama, told the island's second Technology Summit that this together with the country's 72nd spot in the United Nations' (UN) E-Government Development Index were "nothing to celebrate" as he urged it to follow the example set by Estonia.

"The Bahamas is now 118th of 197 countries in the World Bank's index of Ease of Doing Business, and 72nd in the United Nations' E-Government Development Index. This is nothing to celebrate. The good news is that when you are down, the only way to look is up," Mr Thompson said.

Tribune Business reported earlier this month that the World Bank had concluded it was easier to do business in the war-torn West Bank and Gaza Strip than The Bahamas.

While 118th position represented a one-spot improvement in the rankings from last year's 119th, the World Bank still put The Bahamas two places behind the 116th-ranked West Bank and Gaza Strip - the Palestinian territories regularly subjected to bombardments, economic blockades and lengthy power outages as a result of conflict with Israel.

Mr Thompson, though, argued that The Bahamas could draw inspiration from Estonia's experience, as the Baltic state had "moved from a country flat on its back to being number 12 in the world for ease of doing business in less than a generation".

The Minister, who has recently returned from an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) sponsored trip to Estonia to learn about its e-government practices, said the visit highlighted that "a strong determination and will to succeed", coupled with the will to take tough decisions and make sacrifices, was critical if The Bahamas was to follow suit and succeed.

Buy-in to "a strategic plan" was just as important, and Mr Thompson said: "The Bahamas does not have 25 years or 18 years; it must roll-out its plan beginning now and do so with a focused intensity and a sense of urgency. Estonia, and I am certain most of the countries ahead of us, are dreaming of new frontiers, so if we delay we will be as far behind tomorrow as we are today.

"This administration came to Government with the promise that it would transform the public sector to create an efficient public service committed to ease of doing business. This transformation must, and will, include digitisation."

Setting out the Government's current e-government progress, Mr Thompson said: "We have an online presence of 400 services; that is, you can obtain the forms online. Fifteen of the 400 are actually on-line services, but may require you visiting more than one site. For the other services, which are greater than 400, you are required to physically visit an office more than once.

"Vital documents required for most major transactions - opening a bank account, applying for a job, buying and selling a house - may take anywhere from two weeks to upwards of six weeks or more.

"According to a study conducted by the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, a person may spend an average of 25 working days annually trying to obtain public services. This study measured time off of work, cost of travel and cost of the service among other things, and concluded that digitisation would result in significant cost savings as well."

Mr Thompson said that achieving the Government's transformation objectives will boost "the global competitiveness of The Bahamas to attract more foreign investment, which should have a direct impact on the standard of living of our people from Grand Bahama in the north to Inagua in the south".

To get there, the Minister said the time and cost involved with incorporating a business must be reduced, with the Government becoming more transparent and accountable to increase private sector and public trust.

Mr Thompson targeted a reduction in the time spent conducting business with the Government to eight days per annum through an improvement in service delivery and processes, along with better data collection and analysis to improve decision-making.

"Our method will not be to copy Estonia, or for that matter any other country. It will, however, incorporate those practices from any country that are a best fit for The Bahamas while concomitantly developing our own strategies," he said.

"The transformation has actually begun with the 15 on-line services which require fine-tuning and the implementation of credit and debit card services in Government agencies responsible for revenue collection. In addition to this, we will be seeking assistance to create the strategy for the way forward."

Mr Thompson proposed the creation of a single online window through which inquiries, requests and documents needed to transact business can be dealt with.

He also suggested creation of an electronic or mobile identification card with biometrics for security, coupled with an electronic signature, to allow persons to communicate and transact business with Government and to be verified from anywhere in the world.