FREEPORT, Grand Bahama – Minister for Grand Bahama, the Hon. Ginger Moxey, on Friday, June 24, hosted the Grand Bahama Port Authority and the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce to meetings to see how to get things moving in Grand Bahama by working together.

Stating that her Ministry focuses on partnerships and collaborative efforts, Minister Moxey emphasized that without it, “I believe nothing much will happen.”

One of the mandates of the Ministry is to work with the Grand Bahama Port Authority through partnerships and collaboration to move the island forward for growth and development.

Important meetings were held: the first with the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce President, James Carey; Grand Bahama Port Authority President, Ian Rolle; and Grand Bahama Port Authority Chief Investment Officer, Derek Newbold.

One of the topics for this meeting was the ease of doing business so that Grand Bahama can benefit from future investments. “That’s one of the things required in order for investments to continue to happen and for Grand Bahama to be positioned in a way where the island continues to grow and develop.”

The Minister added the group discussed projects that will move growth quickly. She added, “There was a myriad of issues presented and we addressed them and looked at solutions to move forward.”

With the introduction of Bahamas Invest in September 2022, it is believed this will assist with and find solutions for investment related issues.

The meetings continued as the Chamber left and the executive team of the Grand Bahama Port Authority joined. That meeting dealt with several issues, particularly where the island’s development is concerned. “It was on working together, partnerships for development, how are we going to partner. That is the key. If we are going to expect things to happen, we can not work in silos with everyone doing their own thing. But it’s better to work together to get things done.”

Deeming the meetings successful, Minister Moxey noted that participants were excited about how they will collaborate through the Ministry’s initiative Collab: Partnerships for Development.

PRODUCTIVE MEETING – Shown from left are: Philcher Grant, Chief Operating Officer, Public Affairs of Grand Bahama Utility Company; Nakira Wilchcombe, V.P. of Building and Development Services; Derek Newbold, Chief Investment Officer, Grand Bahama Port Authority; Karla McIntosh, Vice President of Legal, Grand Bahama Port Authority; Deann Seymour, Chief Financial Officer, Grand Bahama Port Authority; Ian Rolle, President, Grand Bahama Port Authority; Minister Moxey; Harcourt Brown, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Grand Bahama; Jewel Edwards, Consultant, Coordinator of Collab: Partnerships for Development; Tamar Moss-Ferguson, Legal Counsel, Ministry for Grand Bahama; Chivonia McBride, Senior Projects Manager, Ministry for Grand Bahama; and Conrad Jones, Chief Executive Officer.  (BIS Photos/Andrew Miller)