FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Ian Rolle, President of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA), on Monday, April 15, 2019, expressed the opinion that the country needs to tackle making Freeport more attractive for foreign direct investment.
In order to do this, the GBPA President said a number of variables need to be addressed, citing the “ease of doing business in The Bahamas” as one of those variables, according to an article published in The Bahama Journal.
Declaring that the ease of doing business in The Bahamas must be addressed, Mr. Rolle added, “We’ve been speaking about it for years, but now it’s time to take action. This affects Freeport directly as well. Then, you also have to look at countries or jurisdictions that are nearby, and ask what are they doing.”
Mr. Rolle, who was a guest on LOVE 97’s “On Point” radio talk show, said people have been saying for a while that Freeport has a lot of infrastructure and special concessions, yet they’re curious as to what’s happening economically.
“When we look at nearby jurisdictions, where they have similar infrastructure – the roads, the lights, water, etc. — they also have 100 per cent exemptions from property taxes, they have 100 per cent exemptions from income taxes, and 100 per cent exemptions from import duties.”, he said.
The GBPA President said that this initiative can improve with the government introducing a special H1D Visa, according to the Journal’s article.
“In fact, I know of a jurisdiction that has a 100 per cent exemption from sales taxes or VAT,” Mr. Rolle said. “Then, they also have a five-year work residency visa that can be processed within five days with no quotas and no hassle.”
Mr. Rolle, who has been President of the GBPA for nine years, said Freeport was designed to accommodate some 250,000 people, but currently it is underpopulated by 200,000.
Overall, Mr. Rolle is optimistic about the growth of Grand Bahama, the Journal article stated.
