Delayed Baha Mar luxury resort mars China's Caribbean plans
Problems facing luxury project cast pall over mainland development ambitions in Americas
The US$3.5 billion Baha Mar luxury resort in the Bahamas, long a dream of the Swiss-Bahamian Izmirlian family, was nearly a victim of the Great Recession when investors started pulling out in 2008. Then China came calling.
Thanks to a US$2.4 billion loan from China's export-import bank, 4,000 imported workers and US$150 million in equity for a new developer, the project was salvaged. For the Chinese, Baha Mar was a potential showpiece, a calling card as it set out to expand into the Americas with mega resorts and massive construction projects, including a planned US$50 billion waterway in Nicaragua to rival the Panama Canal.
Now, repeated delays in the opening of Baha Mar have cast a pall over China's Caribbean plans and forced the resort to miss the peak winter travel season. Disputes between the builder, China Construction America and the Izmirlians have devolved into a public sparring match in the Bahamas, where officials are counting on the resort to lift an US$8.4 billion economy that grew just 1 per cent last year.
"From the inception of this project, there has been this concern that the developer was taking on too much at one time and should have used a phased approach," said K. Peter Turnquest, a member of parliament and chairman of SkyBahamas Airlines. "What people are wondering is if this developer now, considering the delays, will be able to bring this project to fruition in a reasonable amount of time."
According to the China Global Investment Tracker, compiled by the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage Foundation, Chinese companies have invested at least US$8.2 billion in the Caribbean and Central America in the last decade. Recent agreements, not all of which are included in the database, include US$36 million for a port in Antigua, financing for a bio-pesticide plant in Cuba and the planned canal in Nicaragua.
Caribbean governments remain enthusiastic for Chinese investment, yet some of the marquee projects have not gone beyond the planning stage.