Ambassador J. Richard Blankenship held a press conference at the US Embassy on Monday, May 6, to publicly congratulate the new Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Perry G. Christie. The US Ambassador to The Bahamas commended the Bahamian people for the peaceful and orderly election process, calling the exercise an "exuberant and energetic demonstration of the democratic process".
Noting that The Bahamas is one of the US's closest neighbours, Ambassador Blankenship indicated that Bahamas/US relations show no sign of weakening. The US anticipates that the relationship will continue to mature and develop and that,"we will have just as fruitful a relationship with the Christie administration as we have had with the Ingraham administration for the last ten years."
According to the Ambassador, Prime Minister Christie has given indication that The Bahamas will honour agreements relating to the US; further, as future agreements are entered into, the expectations are that each party will fulfil its obligations in connection with such.
Now that elections have passed, the Embassy looks forward to the opportunity to move forward quickly with bilateral issues, including maritime law and other treaties currently under evaluation.
The US Embassy will continue to encourage American businessmen to take advantage of the investment opportunities that are available in The Bahamas, said Amb. Blankenship.