A Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers\u2019 Confederation (BCCEC) delegation to India in mid-April was able to help Bahamian firms sign 15 agreements for trade partnerships with various businesses in that Asian country.<\/p>\n
Dr. Leo Rolle, executive director of the BCCEC, told\u00a0Guardian Business<\/em>\u00a0that the delegation led by the chamber included representatives from the Bahamian Contractors\u2019 Association, a select number of shipping and logistics executives, representatives from the Ministry of Housing inclusive of Minister Keith Bell, and representatives from the Bahamas Customs Department. The trip was meant to inspect the quality of goods from prospective building suppliers. There were also other industry professionals on the trip, who were able to make some business-to-business (B2B) linkages.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had some people coming out in the hair industry, and we had some people in the silk industry with fashion, and we had some people in the skin oils and scents industry that came along as well,\u201d Dr. Rolle said.<\/p>\n \u201cAll in all, we were able to ink 15 deals with various Indian-based partners for various sectors, from renewables, to construction, to fashion and plastics. It was a very successful trip.\u201d<\/p>\n Rolle added: \u201cWe were able to inspect the quality, we were able to see what the pricing was like, and we were able to see how long it would take for products to leave India and what the shipping was like. We took some shipping companies as well, because it\u2019s one thing to procure goods, but it\u2019s another thing to get them into the country. And so Exclusive Warehousing was on the trip with us, because they\u2019re going to be an exclusive partner. So was ShipX, and of course, we have CLX Logistics that\u2019s already in the African market, and so it\u2019s just a matter of now getting them to assist us with India.\u201d<\/p>\n The trade mission to India was an all-inclusive sponsored trip paid for by the Indian government, and it was something the BCCEC arranged since last year.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, when I went to India with the International Organization of Employers \u2013 which the chamber is a part of \u2013 for a skills and capacity building conference, I was able to build some linkages there,\u201d Dr. Rolle said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s through those linkages that I met with another organization that apprised me of an opportunity the following year, which is this year, the BuildCon conference. And so, I\u2019ve been working with [that organization] since maybe September of last year.\u201d<\/p>\n The BCCEC intends to continue building international trade partnerships for its members, with trade missions scheduled for Brazil and Algeria this year.<\/p>\n Rolle also said: \u201cWe have a number of other opportunities that we\u2019ve been working on… we do have another trade mission to Brazil in about two weeks, the Brazilian government is paying for travel and accommodation. This is for persons in the food and beverage industry, and so persons are welcome to reach out to the BCCEC to understand how that opportunity will work.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also have a trade mission in September, we\u2019ll go to Algeria in Africa. We\u2019re working with Afreximbank, as well as the Caribbean Export Development Agency, to have the same type of setup where they defer much of the cost, or we get our members to attend for free.\u201d<\/p>\nThe BCCEC is planning a trade mission to Algeria in September with Afreximbank<\/h3>\n