Inniss calls for ‘two-way street’

Government will continue to welcome foreign investment with open arms, but not at the expense of reciprocal “opportunities” for individual Barbadians and businesses.

This was made clear by Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development Donville Inniss as he officially opened American furniture company Ashley Furniture Industries Inc.’s first store in Barbados. It is located at Haggatt Hall, St Michael.

He was speaking partly in the context of information showing that while it imported more than $180 million in furniture furnishings between 2011 and last year, Barbados only exported about $6 million of the same items in that period.

Inniss said people who argued that foreign entities like Ashley had no place in Barbados were “woefully wrong”, since “what they bring to this small island is an opportunity to showcase to the world that really even though we are small we are really international in stature”. (SC)

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