Chinese banks finance $2.6 billion Baha Mar in the Bahamas
The Bahamas has been hit hard by the financial crisis in developed countries and the resultant dwindling tourism. Back in July of 2010, China Daily reported two agencies approved for financing the Baha Mar resort in the Bahamas, enabling much needed job creation. The resort is the largest of its kind in the Caribbean. In this report, construction officially started few days ago. The resort is slated to open in late 2014. Chinese Ambassador Hu Dingxian said to Bahamians during the ground break ceremony, “China is committed to an economic relationship of cooperation and mutual benefit.”
It is worthwhile to underscore what Hu said. China is very much about economic win-win around the world. Unlike what we see leaked in the Wikileaks, the U.S. spends tremendous energy on politics around the globe. China is flushed with capital, and her foreign diplomats are very much preoccupied with economics. This is an example the U.S. government can learn from. Bahamians get to be employed too.
I vacationed in the Bahamas about 5 years ago and I didn’t really like it. I recall that I had to pay for an expensive taxi ride (the minibus does not go to the airport) to go to paradise island. Nassau to me looked like a dump, the food prices are overpriced because they are shipped overseas. There’s not much tourism or places to see outside the tourist resorts. Then again, I didn’t pay to go to an overpriced resort rather I went to a cheap hotel where they made me pay for $20 “cleaning charge” every night. Perhaps it is a good thing where this place would compete with The Atlantis.
QE at work!