ABSTRACT

This chapter summarizes economic, social and natural resource trends and attributes for each of the seventeen Caribbean basin countries. Forecasts of selected demographic and economic trends are provided in each case, and mineral resource forecasts using trend impact analysis are provided for the five countries that have proven economically significant mineral reserves: Cuba, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The Bahamas are a group of 700 islands stretching in a southeasterly direction from off West Palm Beach, Florida, to north of Haiti. Twenty-nine of the islands are inhabited but over three-quarters of the population live on New Providence and Grand Bahama islands. Tough secrecy laws, combined with the absence of corporate, capital gains, profits, and income tax, make the Bahamas a veritable haven for financial institutions. This opportunity has not been neglected as over 300 bank and trust companies have set up shop on the island as a result.