Officials of the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) held a press event on Monday where they spoke they projected that Grand Bahama will have an estimated $5 billion in investments by the end of the year.

GBPA Co-Chairman, Rupert Hayward told reporters that five years since Hurricane Dorian the island is lucky to have investors like Exquisite, Royal Caribbean and MSC. He said, “I spend most of my time on telephone calls with foreign direct investors looking to come to Grand Bahama and we now have a great story to tell which makes a big difference. We have a lot of work to do it’s not perfect but we are really seeing the fruits of our labour coming to fruition here in Grand Bahama today.”

Hayward also said true success will be measured by how those investments positively impact the lives of Grand Bahamians. “What’s most important is making sure that Bahamians here in Grand Bahama feel the benefits of investment. We make sure that we are prepared as a workforce, that we create the entrepreneurial opportunities, the training, the capability building that’s required so that when these investments actually come to life we know that we have the Grand Bahamians that can take advantage of that.”

According to GBPA Chief Investment Officer, Derek Newbold by the end of this year investment in Grand Bahama will reach $5 billion. “Certainly within the next five years we expect that momentum to continue and we expect to see exponential growth in the investment sector from a broad range of different investments. So to put a number on that will be difficult to say but I know that the momentum is certainly going to continue, investment will follow investment.”

In the latest round of investment on the island a heads of agreement is expected to be signed on Thursday for the redevelopment of the Grand Lucayan Hotel property.