Source: Bahamas island info
Remarks by
Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham
At the Reception to Mark the
Official Opening of
The Bahamas Maritime Authority Office
Hong Kong
25 October, 2010
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends of the Bahamas, Old and New,
I am very happy for the opportunity to be present at celebrations marking the opening of the newest Bahamas Maritime Authority Office. This is our third overseas office, the others being located in London and in New York City. We are now pleased to have offices on three continents.
This office is, as we say, long overdue. Some 12 years ago, when we opened our first career consular office in this city, it was my expectation that our Maritime Office would soon follow.
We knew then as now, that Hong Kong is a significant hub for international shipping and hence an ideal location from which to attract additional world-class ships to our expanding Registry.
So I was particularly pleased to be able to take part in the formal opening of the office this morning.
With over 52 million in gross tonnage The Bahamas has one of the largest fleets in the world. Still, it is not our aim to have the biggest fleet in the world. What we desire, is the best. And we are well on our way in achieving this goal.
Fortunately, there are many owners who share our aspirations. We are proud to be on the White Lists of all of the world's Port State Control regimes. This speaks to our commitment to excellence and the highest international standards.
Hong Kong is a city with significant history, included in which is its growth and importance as an important maritime city. It is a gateway for east-west trade and a major international centre for financial services.
As such Hong Kong is home to shipping companies and related trade enterprises. It also has a wide cross section of business persons and high net worth individuals whom we would like to introduce to the Islands of The Bahamas.
The Bahamian archipelago stretches from the southern end of the Florida peninsula to Cuba. To give you some perspective, it takes a commercial jet approximately two hours to fly through Bahamian airspace from north to south.
Our extraordinary and expansive jade and aquamarine waters are a yachting and fisherman’s paradise teeming with exotic marine life and rare species. We also boast the largest underwater blue hole system in the world.
With a population under 400,000 we have punched well above our relative weight in tourism, as well as maritime and financial services.
We have done so, because we are a strategically located nation with an open, dynamic economy that is continuing to become even better integrated into the world economy.
We are a vibrant, stable democracy, having achieved a number of the key elements of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
The Bahamas is now engaged in the most expansive infrastructural investment programme in our history. This includes a new state-of-the-art international airport at our main island of New Providence, home to Nassau, the Bahamian capital city.
Because of the many opportunities and advantages The Bahamas offers, we have made impressive and fairly rapid strides in attracting world-class maritime services.
Indeed, in this area we are an international centre of excellence, constantly seeking to improve our maritime services and products.
Hutchison Whampoa’s Freeport Harbour and Container Port, located in Freeport, Grand Bahama has the deepest berths in the region. It also serves as a major container transshipment hub for the eastern seaboard of the US and as the principal east-west line-haul route through the region.
Freeport also hosts a large ship care facility with three floating dry docks. It is able to receive some of the largest cruise ships in the world for repairs and is equally able to deal with other commercial shipping.
Its boat yard is being expanded to accommodate larger boats. This is critical as we pursue a special Yacht Registry. Further, Freeport and Grand Bahama Island host two significant fuel and crude oil storage and transshipment terminals.
In addition to ship registration, transshipment and ship repair, The Bahamas is also strategically attracting international capital investments in other areas of our ever diversifying economy.
These targeted areas include: tourism resorts, second-homes, marinas, information and data processing, assembly and high-tech industries, and captive insurance, among others.
In the financial services sector, we are a choice location in our hemisphere. We are a low-tax jurisdiction with no taxes on income, wealth or inheritance.
There is one ingredient which underlies all of the enterprises which I have mentioned. That ingredient is quality. We aim to attract the top end of the market in whatever field we enter.
You may have heard our internationally-known signature line which annually attracts millions of visitors to The Bahamas. That signature line is: “It’s Better in The Bahamas”.
It is our goal as a nation and as a highly attractive destination for foreign investment to be the best we can in the strategic areas integral to our national development.
I invite you to visit and discover why it continues to get even better in The Bahamas year after year. I further invite you to consider investing in an expanding Bahamian enterprise committed to the highest in international standards.
Again, it is indeed a privilege to join you on this occasion as The Bahamas continues the expansion of our vital maritime services industry.
Thank you and Good Evening.
Remarks by
Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham
At the Reception to Mark the
Official Opening of
The Bahamas Maritime Authority Office
Hong Kong
25 October, 2010
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends of the Bahamas, Old and New,
I am very happy for the opportunity to be present at celebrations marking the opening of the newest Bahamas Maritime Authority Office. This is our third overseas office, the others being located in London and in New York City. We are now pleased to have offices on three continents.
This office is, as we say, long overdue. Some 12 years ago, when we opened our first career consular office in this city, it was my expectation that our Maritime Office would soon follow.
We knew then as now, that Hong Kong is a significant hub for international shipping and hence an ideal location from which to attract additional world-class ships to our expanding Registry.
So I was particularly pleased to be able to take part in the formal opening of the office this morning.
With over 52 million in gross tonnage The Bahamas has one of the largest fleets in the world. Still, it is not our aim to have the biggest fleet in the world. What we desire, is the best. And we are well on our way in achieving this goal.
Fortunately, there are many owners who share our aspirations. We are proud to be on the White Lists of all of the world's Port State Control regimes. This speaks to our commitment to excellence and the highest international standards.
Hong Kong is a city with significant history, included in which is its growth and importance as an important maritime city. It is a gateway for east-west trade and a major international centre for financial services.
As such Hong Kong is home to shipping companies and related trade enterprises. It also has a wide cross section of business persons and high net worth individuals whom we would like to introduce to the Islands of The Bahamas.
The Bahamian archipelago stretches from the southern end of the Florida peninsula to Cuba. To give you some perspective, it takes a commercial jet approximately two hours to fly through Bahamian airspace from north to south.
Our extraordinary and expansive jade and aquamarine waters are a yachting and fisherman’s paradise teeming with exotic marine life and rare species. We also boast the largest underwater blue hole system in the world.
With a population under 400,000 we have punched well above our relative weight in tourism, as well as maritime and financial services.
We have done so, because we are a strategically located nation with an open, dynamic economy that is continuing to become even better integrated into the world economy.
We are a vibrant, stable democracy, having achieved a number of the key elements of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
The Bahamas is now engaged in the most expansive infrastructural investment programme in our history. This includes a new state-of-the-art international airport at our main island of New Providence, home to Nassau, the Bahamian capital city.
Because of the many opportunities and advantages The Bahamas offers, we have made impressive and fairly rapid strides in attracting world-class maritime services.
Indeed, in this area we are an international centre of excellence, constantly seeking to improve our maritime services and products.
Hutchison Whampoa’s Freeport Harbour and Container Port, located in Freeport, Grand Bahama has the deepest berths in the region. It also serves as a major container transshipment hub for the eastern seaboard of the US and as the principal east-west line-haul route through the region.
Freeport also hosts a large ship care facility with three floating dry docks. It is able to receive some of the largest cruise ships in the world for repairs and is equally able to deal with other commercial shipping.
Its boat yard is being expanded to accommodate larger boats. This is critical as we pursue a special Yacht Registry. Further, Freeport and Grand Bahama Island host two significant fuel and crude oil storage and transshipment terminals.
In addition to ship registration, transshipment and ship repair, The Bahamas is also strategically attracting international capital investments in other areas of our ever diversifying economy.
These targeted areas include: tourism resorts, second-homes, marinas, information and data processing, assembly and high-tech industries, and captive insurance, among others.
In the financial services sector, we are a choice location in our hemisphere. We are a low-tax jurisdiction with no taxes on income, wealth or inheritance.
There is one ingredient which underlies all of the enterprises which I have mentioned. That ingredient is quality. We aim to attract the top end of the market in whatever field we enter.
You may have heard our internationally-known signature line which annually attracts millions of visitors to The Bahamas. That signature line is: “It’s Better in The Bahamas”.
It is our goal as a nation and as a highly attractive destination for foreign investment to be the best we can in the strategic areas integral to our national development.
I invite you to visit and discover why it continues to get even better in The Bahamas year after year. I further invite you to consider investing in an expanding Bahamian enterprise committed to the highest in international standards.
Again, it is indeed a privilege to join you on this occasion as The Bahamas continues the expansion of our vital maritime services industry.
Thank you and Good Evening.
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