Women’s Forum invited to scout Bahamas investments
Minister of Tourism & Aviation Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace and other Bahamian officials invited influential women from around the world to look to the islands of the Bahamas for investment opportunities as they welcomed the International Women’s Forum (IWF) to Nassau.
IWF, a prestigious organization of approximately 5,000 woman leaders, held the winter board meeting of its Leadership Foundation in Nassau. The Leadership Foundation is the educational and charitable arm of the IWF, whose members include US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mina Teicher, former chief scientist of Israel. The organization’s president is Bahamian Senator Allyson Maynard-Gibson.
“We find ourselves in a happy position, where we have more islands in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas than there are in the entire Caribbean,” Minister Vanderpool-Wallace told the 53 women who traveled to the Bahamas for the board meeting. “We have more beaches in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas than we have in the Caribbean. We have more territorial waters in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas than in the entire Caribbean. Many people don’t know that this piece of the Bahamas that we call Nassau/Paradise Island, if this were a single country in the Caribbean, it would be fifth in terms of total air arrivals. It would be second in terms of total visitors, and it would be number one in terms of cruise passengers.”
For all its success, however, Nassau/Paradise Island comprises less than two percent of the Bahamas’ land mass, Minister Vanderpool-Wallace pointed out.
“So when we talk about the potential for development of this country, those of you who are looking for investments, for second homes or a place to just get away, we have such an amazing variety that it is astonishing,” he said.
Minister Vanderpool-Wallace said there are greater differences in the history and culture between any two islands of the Bahamas than there is between any two English-speaking countries in the Caribbean.
As a result, the Ministry of Tourism & Aviation took advantage of the opportunity to host the IWF delegates to a reception to point out the great variety and investment opportunities within the country, he said.
Senator Maynard-Gibson also pointed out that there are many benefits to investing in industry and second homes in the Bahamas. In addition, she said that the 5,000 women of IWF are from 24 countries. She said the organization is playing a large role in the paradigm shift in which women are playing a larger role in decision-making around the world.
