“BEYOND THE SHORELINE: Investments, Private Wealth and Digital”
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Ladies and gentlemen, friends of The Bahamas,
From the airplane window or from the deck of a boat, people look at our islands and feel they already understand us.
They see the shoreline, the colours of the sea, the sunlight on the sand.
This morning, I would like us to walk past that familiar picture together and pay attention to what lies beyond the shoreline.
Behind the postcard view is a country that is quietly and steadily rebuilding its foundations, modernising its institutions, and preparing to be a serious home for capital, ideas, and innovation.
We intend to keep our natural beauty. That will always be part of who we are.
At the same time, we are shaping something more: a trusted base for global investment, a stable home for private wealth, and a forward-looking centre for digital enterprise.
That is the promise contained in the theme of this forum: “Beyond the Shoreline: Investments, Private Wealth and Digital.” It is an invitation to look again at The Bahamas, with fresh eyes and a wider lens.
We are meeting at a time when many investors feel that the rules keep changing.
Regulations shift with little warning, conflicts disrupt trade and supply chains, technology moves faster than most parliaments can legislate, and headlines seem to bring a new kind of risk every week.
In such a world, certainty has become a scarce commodity. The Bahamas has set out to be a place where certainty is not spoken about only when things go well, but delivered in practice when things become difficult.
We offer a democracy with deep roots, one of the oldest in our region, with peaceful transfers of power and institutions that have grown over time.
Our legal system rests on English Common Law, with final appeals heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in England.
Contracts are honoured. Property rights are protected. Our regulators are in regular dialogue with their colleagues abroad.
These are not abstract points. They are the reasons why serious capital has chosen The Bahamas for decades, and why that capital has stayed.
Alongside our political and legal foundations, we are improving the way we manage our public finances.
We have committed ourselves to fiscal consolidation, to lowering debt levels, and to more responsible budgeting.
International rating agencies have recognised this trajectory and adjusted their outlooks accordingly.
For investors, that recognition is not simply about a letter grade. It is about confidence that the government you are dealing with understands the importance of discipline, credibility, and follow-through.
With that backdrop, let me turn to the first horizon that lies beyond the shoreline, which is the horizon of real-economy investment.
Across our islands, we are renewing and expanding core infrastructure.
Airports are being upgraded, ports are being strengthened, water and sewerage systems are being improved, and digital connectivity is being extended.
Our aim is to move from an economy concentrated in a few sectors and a few locations, to an economy in which opportunity is more widely shared across islands and industries.
Energy is a good place to start.
High energy costs and unreliable supply have held back growth in many small states, including our own.
We are determined to change this.
We are rolling out solar solutions across our Family Islands, investing in battery storage, and opening space for private participation in generation and grid improvements.
For investors, the opportunities range from independent power projects to innovative financing structures that help spread risk and reward in sensible ways.
Lower, more stable energy costs benefit households and businesses, and they also improve returns for those who partner with us.
Our geographic position gives us another powerful advantage.
We sit just off the coast of North America and along major Atlantic shipping routes.
Freeport is already home to one of the region’s significant container ports. We are expanding and modernising airport infrastructure on several islands.
Step by step, we are building the conditions for The Bahamas to strengthen its role as a logistics and maritime services hub.
For those involved in shipping, warehousing, distribution or supply chain innovation, our location and the improvements now under way create a natural platform for growth.
Of course, tourism continues to be a major pillar of our economy, and that will remain true.
But even here, we are moving to a more sophisticated phase.
Alongside large resort investments, we are encouraging smaller, specialised projects: boutique hotels, wellness destinations, eco-friendly experiences, cultural attractions, and community-based tourism that bring visitors into contact with the lived reality of our islands.
This kind of diversification increases yields, deepens visitor engagement, and spreads income more evenly.
Investors who understand this evolution will find a government ready to support creative and responsible projects.
Health and education are also part of the picture.
We are investing in new medical facilities, enhancing training for health professionals, and exploring opportunities for partnerships in research, telemedicine and wellness.
Our young population is eager to build careers in technology, finance, healthcare and the creative industries.
We are expanding vocational programmes and partnerships with international institutions so that young Bahamians can acquire the skills that modern employers need.
Investors who help to train and employ this new generation are building not only enterprises, but long-term loyalty and resilience.
To coordinate all of this, we have strengthened our Investment Promotion and Facilitation Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister.
The intention is straightforward.
Serious investors should not be left to wander from agency to agency looking for answers. They should have a single point of contact that can coordinate across ministries, resolve issues, and keep projects moving.
We may not remove every obstacle, but we can remove many of the unnecessary ones.
In a world where time is money, that difference matters.
The second horizon beyond the shoreline lies where finance, lifestyle and legacy meet, in the world of private wealth and family offices. For many years, The Bahamas has welcomed high-net-worth individuals and families who value a well-regulated, sophisticated jurisdiction for wealth management and estate planning.
Our lawyers, bankers, trustees and accountants have built up deep experience in trusts, foundations and related structures.
Our regulators have grown alongside this sector, and are recognised for their engagement and seriousness.
At the same time, expectations around wealth management are changing.
Families are seeking more than secure structures. They are looking for a place where they can live part of their lives, educate their children, contribute to the community, and align their capital with causes they care about.
In that sense, they are looking for a home, not simply a registration.
The Bahamas speaks directly to these needs.
We offer an English-speaking, service-oriented workforce, good schools, quality healthcare, and communities that are welcoming and culturally rich.
Purpose has become central for many families.
Increasingly, wealth holders want to direct part of their capital to issues such as climate resilience, food security, education and public health.
Small island states like ours sit at the front line of climate risk, from hurricanes to coastal erosion, and we are working hard on solutions.
We see growing potential for structures that allow philanthropic, impact-oriented and commercial capital to work together on projects that strengthen communities while delivering fair returns.
It is natural for these conversations to take place in The Bahamas, among people who understand both the mechanics of international finance and the immediate realities of climate and development.
The third horizon is digital.
Around the world, governments and innovators are still trying to find the right balance between encouraging new ideas and protecting investors and citizens.
In many places, either regulation chokes off innovation or innovation races ahead of any meaningful oversight.
Our ambition in The Bahamas is to find a better balance, one that allows creativity to flourish within clear, enforceable rules.
We were among the first countries to enact a dedicated framework for digital assets and exchanges in the form of the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges Act, DARE.
We made that decision not to chase headlines, but because we saw that digital assets would play an increasing role in global finance.
When that framework came under intense scrutiny as a result of global events, our regulators and courts responded in a firm and transparent way.
Since then, we have updated DARE in line with evolving standards and lessons learned.
Our message to serious digital asset firms and fintech innovators is simple.
If you are prepared to operate with strong governance and compliance, you will find in The Bahamas an engaged regulator and an administration that understands your sector.
If you are looking to cut corners, you will be disappointed.
Digital, for us, reaches far beyond crypto.
We are implementing a national digital strategy that brings government services online, introduces secure digital identification, strengthens cyber security, and improves the way payments move through the economy.
The Central Bank of The Bahamas launched the Sand Dollar, one of the earliest central bank digital currencies in the world, and continues to explore practical uses that can improve financial inclusion and resilience.
These efforts create an ecosystem where payment providers, regtech platforms, digital custodians and data-driven businesses can grow side by side, supported by a legal framework that respects innovation while guarding against abuse.
Because we are a relatively small country, coordination is easier than in larger systems.
When we decide to reform, the distance between a policy decision and real-world implementation can be shorter.
For digital firms looking for a place where they can test, refine and then scale their offerings, this agility is a genuine advantage.
The ability to sit with decision-makers, discuss ideas and find practical pathways is part of what we offer.
A forum called “Beyond the Shoreline” invites us to talk about the ocean itself.
Our seas are not a backdrop. They feed our people, attract our visitors, support our fishers, and hold enormous stores of carbon in their seagrass meadows and mangroves.
We are working with scientific partners to better map and protect these resources.
Some of you may have heard about our collaboration tagging sharks to help us map seagrass.
Only in The Bahamas do you get to say that the research team includes sharks on the payroll!
There is humour in that image, but there is also a serious point.
Properly measured and managed, our marine ecosystems can support credible blue carbon projects that attract climate finance with integrity.
Climate capital is growing.
Many investors in this room are already exploring ways to align portfolios with the goals of the Paris Agreement while still meeting fiduciary duties.
The Bahamas is determined to be a leader in this emerging space, from coastal resilience projects to nature-based solutions and innovative financing tied to adaptation.
We see potential for instruments that bring together private funds, development finance institutions and philanthropic partners around well-designed projects that deliver measurable results.
This is an area where our interests as a small island state and your interests as forward-looking investors can meet.
Let me say a word about process, because even the most attractive opportunity can lose its shine if procedures feel opaque or endless.
Investors today have less patience for uncertainty and unexplained delay, and they are right to feel that way.
Our government has taken this to heart.
We are modernising company and land registries so that information is clearer and more accessible.
We are reforming planning and approvals processes so that timelines are more predictable and the steps are easier to understand.
We are strengthening tax administration while maintaining a competitive, business-friendly regime that rewards real activity, not gamesmanship.
Through the Office of the Prime Minister, significant projects receive coordinated attention, so that problems are addressed early rather than left to fester.
No government can promise a perfectly smooth path for every investor.
What we can promise is access to decision-makers, a willingness to solve problems in good faith, and a genuine interest in seeing good projects move from idea to reality.
When you choose The Bahamas, you are choosing not only a location but a relationship with a government that understands how precious credibility is, and how quickly it can be lost if words and actions diverge.
So let me bring these threads together.
From the shoreline, you see a beautiful country.
From the boardroom, I hope you now see something more: a stable democracy with clear rules, a financial centre with depth and resilience, a welcoming home for private wealth and family offices, a digital hub that insists on both innovation and responsibility, and an island nation that is serious bout climate and the blue economy.
We are a small country with a wide horizon. We have no desire to simply watch events unfold from the side-lines. We intend to help write the next chapter of investment and innovation in our region.
The question I leave with you is straightforward.
What could we build together, beyond the shoreline?
What business could you base here?
What fund, what family office, what digital platform, what climate venture could find its strongest expression in partnership with The Bahamas?
My government stands ready to work with you. Our institutions are open to your ideas. Our people are ready to welcome you as partners.
The Bahamas is a tested model of success.
We invite you to help shape its next phase.