NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The Bahamas and Canada have embarked on a mission to strengthen bilateral relations forged more than 50 years ago. An Innovation and Trade Mission held February 26-28, 2025 at Baha Mar Convention Center, focused on encouraging economic growth, innovation and collaboration between Canadian and Bahamian companies, and aimed at small, medium and large-sized Canadian exporters from diverse backgrounds.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments and Aviation the Hon. Chester Cooper in his Official Opening Remarks observed that the trade mission would strengthen the relationship between The Bahamas and Canada, in keeping with this administration’s goals towards economic growth and diversification.
Speakers also included Senator the Hon. Michael Halkitis, Minister of Economic Affairs; the Hon. Jobeth Coleby-Davis, Minister of Energy and Transport; His Excellency Mark Berman, High Commissioner, High Commission of Canada to The Bahamas; other relevant speakers from Government, and the Private Sector. His Excellency V. Alfred Gray, The Bahamas High Commissioner to Canada was also in attendance.
While the trade mission was open to companies and organizations from all sectors, the programme highlighted areas of Canadian competitive advantage, with a particular focus on the following priority sectors:
- Agri-food and Agri-tech
- Clean technologies and clean energy
- Fintech
- Tourism/Hospitality Investment/Services
- Academic Partnerships
DPM Cooper was optimistic that the trade mission will strengthen the relationship between The Bahamas and Canada and that the initiative helped to build upon an existing good relationship: "I believe that relations will always be stronger where there are common interests, and specifically common interests in business and trade,” he said. In this vein, he underscored the importance of continued collaboration between both countries.
“I think this is significant for the advancement of the relationship, but also for new industries for The Bahamas, in regard to technology and innovation, and also in terms of advancing some of the things we’ve already started to do.”
He further noted that the development of the Innovate242 tech hub initiative on Grand Bahama was the result of a visit to a tech hub in Ottawa, Canada during a Bahamas trade mission in 2023.
And, that the government continues to work toward Grand Bahama being a tech hub of the region.
“Much of this is aspirational, but we want to ensure that we are building capacity, and we are building ecosystems to ensure that tech businesses in The Bahamas can thrive,” he said.
The Canada-Bahamas Innovation Trade Mission 2025, was hosted by the Government of The Bahamas, and organized in partnership with the Government of Canada and the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation (BCCEC).
The trade mission attracted some 18 companies from Canada, representing five different sectors, which met with Bahamian business people in an effort to deepen trade ties and expand Canadian products and services locally.
Meetings between companies kicked off before the official start of the trade conference, with Canadian companies carrying out projects with government agencies like the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Sciences Institute (BAMSI).
