Ripe for business
Monday June 27 2011 | 06:14 AM

Barbados' resilient international business sector has weathered the harsh world economic storm.

Immediate-past President of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA) Mohammed Patel, speaking on behalf of the organisation's last board of directors, said this was done "without any major disruptions".

He outlined the positive outcome in his report contained in BIBA's 2010-2011 annual report released at it's annual general meeting.

Patel said while there were several challenges facing the sector, and a number of concerns its members were working to resolve with Government and other partners, a recovery in the island's international business sector was a reality.

"Thankfully, even in the face of the economic challenges, and the environmental ones, I am pleased to note that our international business community has so far managed to weather the storm, so-to-speak, without any major disruptions," he said.

"The strength of recovery in Barbados' international business sector has been heartening as our sector continues to outperform the island's other major foreign exchange earners."

His anticipation was that "as the world economy continues to improve that we will see a diversity of members and product offerings that will augur well for both the growth of our association and the economic development of Barbados on a whole".

Challenges remain

"We still have a lot of challenges and we need to build on the progress that BIBA is making on various fronts and I encourage you to give the successive administration your continued support as it works to meet the challenges ahead," he noted.

Among the areas that were expected to continue being a concern of BIBA's included the impact of interventions by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and Financial Stability Board.

These provided "new cause for concern and action" over the past year he noted.

"Moreover, the advantages of our tax treaty network niche had started to be whittled down by the proliferation of Tax Information Exchange Agreements being signed between our competitors and our major international partners," Patel said.

"Suddenly, we were beset by determining how best to grapple with these new threats and initiatives. The BIBA board therefore spent a large part of its efforts over the course of the year analysing these new developments and making recommendations to Government on legislative and other changes that could best position Barbados to surmount these challenges."

The official was pleased that "a number of our recommendations were taken on board by the current administration and our sector was saved from some potentially harmful initiatives both at home and abroad".

Patel also said BIBA's last year included a continued focus on further promoting the importance of the international business sector to the people and the economy of Barbados, done mainly through the second annual International Business Week, which was held in October last year.

He also noted that efforts were on to come up with an adequate formula to determine the true contribution of the international business sector to Barbados.