Freeport was the original site that Walt Disney looked at, then chose swamp land in Florida!
Unfortunately all of our our arguments for and against are largely built on a false sense of what
could be/should be/would be which will never be.
We are desperate for jobs, full stop. Disney wants a better private island destination with tax concessions from a Government which is inept in negotiation and desperate.
That hand writing is on the wall. Who owns the damn land anyway? Ain't seen that name in print yet.

The Bahamas Government is in no position to tell Hutchinson anything.
As an extension of mainland China, the inverse is the case.
Hutchinson could buy the country but it would be a waste of $$.
Per their methods cheaper to await default and own it anyway.

Bahamians have been trained to go hat in hand begging some civil servant for LAWFUL processes and dread the "what you gonna do for me" that they know is coming!
Living in the Bahamas has become onerous by definition.

Funny he doesn't mention the reduction to 15% timeline though.
He negotiated it. 2025 I believe?
So another 7 years of 30% chicken among other things?

Interesting, as I was told by someone a couple months ago that they were fined for not having their license on them.
I had not seen any such change to the Road Traffic act gazetted, but then, do they properly gazette anything anymore? Turns out it wasn't law yet!
Always laughed that it was illegal to be caught drunk while driving, but not drinking while driving!
There endeth the "to go Cup"
I was rear ended by a drunk once, wrote his truck off, damaged mine. Accident cop was told he was drunk and told me not to claim that, as his insurance would be invalid!

He (and we all!) will learn the hard way, particularly with whom he is relying on for transparency.
Why the epiphany when he has swallowed whole the standard line:
Zhivargo Laing, had promised to be as transparent as possible given the need to maintain confidentiality on The Bahamas' position prior to negotiations over the terms for it to become a full WTO member.
Transparency and transparent as possible are potentially two completely different things!
If past history is any indicator, we are gonna be blindsided once again.

A not too distant P.M. may find himself deposed by the Chinese when you elected idiots cannot repay loans!
Sri Lanka has lost it's harbor to the Chinese, Angola its oil, Maldives have given 38% of state owned resorts, Madagascar lost land, Zambia is now a damn Chinese Colony, losing their airport and Air space, Ethiopia has lost their national rail system, And Kenya has lost its own mineral rights and mines, all the above because their politicians borrowed from the Chinese and defaulted.
And here we are borrowing more from them to buy a defunct hotel from them!

Very disappointing, irrespective of the actual immigration policy/crisis/illusion.
He has basically reverted to good standard bearing PLP policy/mouthing off.
Fred must be thrilled.
What a tremendous disappointment.

WTO rules have been used to reinforce Exclusivities and distributorships in the Caribbean over the last few years,
however as distribution hubs in the caribbean often cannot serve the Bahamas as an example as there are no economical shipping routes from south to north!
Meanwhile when, not if, but when foreign competitors arrive it will get interesting as they will bring their purchasing power and supply chains which could marginalize local entities.
Volume is to retail what location is to real estate.

VAT alone will not replace import duties. Income, real property tax normalization and Capital gains are at least in part already scheduled. Committed to. Signed.
We have Until 2025 to normalize import duties to 8-10%
But Zhivago won't tell you that.
"Most favored Nation" means there can be no favorites, including your own.
Non discriminatory clauses abound.