Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform this Honourable House of the importance and continuing need to protect Bermuda’s mangroves.

I will start with an interesting fact, Bermuda is the most northerly point on earth where mangroves grow, thanks to the proximity of the warming waters of the Gulf Stream. These unique trees have, and will play a critical role in Bermuda’s past, its present and its future.

Senior Government representatives from Bermuda, the UK, and the US convened this week to work through how rapid international assistance could be provided to Bermuda in the unlikely event of a severe incident.

Today’s (March 22) tabletop exercise follows a series of exercises and training courses supported by the UK, designed to increase Bermuda’s own resilience and ability to respond to significant incidents. 

Development is a further reflection of Brookfield’s commitment to Bermuda

BROOKFIELD NEWS, March 21, 2023 – Brookfield today reaffirmed its commitment to Bermuda, announcing plans to build a state-of-the art Class A commercial office building with supporting ground floor retail at 91 Front Street in downtown Hamilton.

Recently, Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon.

Today, the Ministry of Economy and Labour released the September 2022 Retail Sales Index. 

September’s volume of retail sales decreased 1.8 per cent compared to last year.  In value terms, retail sales increased to an estimated $97.5 million.

Compared to the pre-pandemic period of September 2019, volume sales were 0.6 per cent lower.

Three of the seven sectors recorded volume declines in September 2022.   

Mr. Speaker, I rise before the Honourable House today to share with my Honorable colleagues some very positive prospects for Bermuda within the Cruise Ship industry in the next year, 2023.

Mr. Speaker, the principal responsibility of cruise ship lays within the Ministry of Transport, working very closely with the Bermuda Tourism Authority who promotes Bermuda, and our key internal and external industry stakeholders and cruise line partners.

Mr. Speaker, in the recent years the focus has been on the following:

Government House can advise that Her Excellency the Governor has tested positive for COVID-19. The Governor will continue to work remotely but will not be attending any in-person events or meetings until she receives a negative test result. 

Under Section 19A of the Constitution, the Governor has authorised the Deputy Governor, Mr Tom Oppenheim, to attend the Convening of the Legislature scheduled for Friday 4 November 2022 and to read the Throne Speech on her behalf. 

The Cabinet Office today confirmed that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has now postponed the annual Joint Ministerial Council set for next week in London.It 

This meeting of Overseas Territories (OT) Heads of Government with UK Government Ministers ordinarily addresses key issues related to the OTs and provides direct interaction between Heads of Government, OT Ministers, officials and their counterparts in the UK. Following the change in leadership in the UK a Minister of State for the OTs has only been appointed today (November 2)

Earlier today, Premier, the Hon. David Burt and members of Cabinet met with the Prime Minister of Bahamas, the Hon. Philip Davis and members of his Cabinet as part of the Bahamian delegation’s visit to Bermuda.

Hamilton, October 4, 2022 – The Ministry of Finance is pleased to report that the Council of the European Union and its Code of Conduct Group determined that the island had fulfilled its recommendations on taxation and was therefore removed from Annex II.

Referencing the decision, the Council announced that “the commitment of Bermuda with regard to the OECD FHTP recommendations on the effective implementation of substance requirements was deemed fulfilled, resulting in the deletion of the reference to this jurisdiction in the state of play document”.