By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian businesses could soon gain access to a consumer market of 1.4 bn people as the Bahamas Trade Commission moves to connect local vendors with China’s booming e-commerce platforms.

Trade Commission Chairman Senator Barry Griffin said the goal is to help Bahamian entrepreneurs tap into the Chinese digital marketplace—home to platforms like Alibaba and JD.com—by establishing export pathways for locally made products such as seafood, rum, crafts, and cultural goods.

He explained that the Commission is working to introduce Bahamian vendors to China’s dominant online sales platforms, which would allow them to create profiles, list products, and receive payments in a digital ecosystem built for high-volume commerce.

“All of the major manufacturers and companies sell on certain e commerce websites. Alibaba, for example. Local vendors can create pages and profiles on these Chinese apps and take advantage of being within the Chinese e commerce ecosystem,” said Mr Griffin.

“We think that is huge, obviously, China is a huge market. Imagine local Bahamian companies having a presence on Chinese websites in China. 

“Everything from Bahamian rum, Junkanoo costumes, seafood, we’re big exporters of lobster, for example, and fish. Local fishermen and agriculturalists will be able to access those Chinese platforms. That’s a huge one for export in the Bahamas.”

To illustrate the potential, Mr Griffin compared the opportunity to global giants already familiar to Bahamian vendors.

“Bahamian businesses already know how to access and sell on Amazon. Now think of being able to sell to 1.4 bn people on the Chinese versions of Amazon,” he said. 

Mr Griffin recently participated in a two-week SME management seminar in China, where he toured tech firms, industrial parks, and met with representatives from trade and e-commerce agencies. 

He said the trip resulted in key connections with manufacturers and suppliers across industries such as electronics, textiles, solar products, and fast-moving consumer goods

“We met a great number of manufacturers, major players in China, in particular, in fast moving consumer goods ,electronics, textiles and solar products.  We want to introduce those companies and those industries to the Bahamian private sector, so that they can begin trading with these companies,” said Mr Griffin.

For logistics, the Commission is planning to route goods through the Dominican Republic—an emerging regional hub for Chinese imports—until trade volume supports direct shipping to The Bahamas. 

“The Dominican Republic has become a bit of a hub for Chinese goods. We want to tap into that as  we currently receive goods from China through the US, so we want to tap into using the DR to route goods to the Bahamas,” said Mr Griffin