By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

SMALL and medium-sized businesses need to feel the economic growth in the country, said Senator Darren Pickstock, at the Institute of Chartered Accountants’ (BICA) SMP seminar.

Pointing to the positive Moody’s rating, The Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI) which reported The Bahamas as having growth of 3.4 percent, and tourism numbers, Mr Pickstock noted the cost and ease of doing business are challenges in the way of allowing SMEs to enjoy growth.

“But while these statistics are promising, they tell only part of the story,” Mr Pickstock said. “GDP growth is good, but we must ensure that that growth is widespread and felt by everyone. This can only be achieved through government policies supporting a healthy private sector. Small and medium sized enterprises are the lifeblood of our economy.

“Standing between us and the fulfillment of our true economic potential are challenges that small and medium-sized enterprises are uniquely positioned to address. Yet there remains a palatable sense of frustration in certain communities that are falling short that we rather are falling short of our potential, particularly when it comes to issues like the cost of doing business, the ease of doing business and access to capital.

“As Bahamians, we believe our nation has the potential to be the best little country in the world, we set high standards for ourselves. We don’t want to just see economic growth. We want to own more of that growth, and that means growing local and small, medium-sized businesses and enterprises and is both economic and socially imperative. SMEs create jobs on every island and in every community, and the wealth they generate largely stays within our communities. This positions SMEs as the back door of a more equitable and stable economy, obviously, given their importance to the economy, supporting SMEs is a major priority for this administration. There are a few things that must be done to properly empower local businesses to achieve success.”

Mr Pickstock said the process of obtaining a business licence and other documents and certificates must be accelerated and handled more efficiently. He added that digitalisation efforts play a major role in making that happen. Addressing banking in The Bahamas, Mr Pickstock said “the speed and quality of service” in the country is “in desperate need of improvement”.

Referring to the cost of doing business, Mr Pickstock said rent and electricity costs can create yet another hurdle for business to overcome in order to survive. However, he added, that energy reforms that were put in place have led most customers to see “noticeable savings and more savings are projected to come”. With the investment of solar microgrids and cleaner fuels, Mr Pickstock said more job opportunities will become available.

“Climate change represents perhaps the greatest challenge and opportunity of our time,” Mr Pickstock said. “As we embrace cleaner fuels and invest in utility scale solar throughout our family islands, new business ventures will emerge in this sector. By 2030, 32 percent of generated energy in The Bahamas will be solar energy. This exceeds the global target of 30 percent by 3030. Through historic investments in energy reform, we will transition from playing catch up to exceeding the global standard.

“We have already begun preparing Bahamian for a renewable future with the launch of the Renewable Energy Programme at BTVI. With so many relevant areas within the climate change issue to explore, we can anticipate opportunities growing in the renewable energy, sustainability, climate science, Environmental Science and impact investments. Our natural environment, particularly our seagrass meadows and their role in carbon secretion represents potentially a billion dollar opportunities. We may well be on the cusp of a green rush, no pun intended, comparable to the gold rushes of the 19th century. It is critical that Bahamian business owners are a part of that rush.”