Page "Economy of the Bahamas" Paragraph 6

The Bahamas has a few notable industrial firms: the Freeport pharmaceutical firm, PFC Bahamas ( formerly Syntex ), which recently streamlined its production and was purchased by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche ; the BORCO oil facility, also in Freeport, which transships oil in the region ; the Commonwealth Brewery in Nassau, which produces Heineken, Guinness, and Kalik beers ; and Bacardi Corp., which distills rum in Nassau for shipment to the U. S. and European markets.

Other industries include sun-dried sea salt in Great Inagua, a wet dock facility in Freeport for repair of cruise ships, and mining of aragonite — a type of limestone with several industrial uses — from the sea floor at Ocean Cay.

Other smaller but more nimble players in the banking industry include Fidelity Bank ( Bahamas ) Ltd. ( FBB ) and Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited ( RFMBT ).

FBB offers a wide range of innovative banking products including loan products with built-in savings plans.

RFMBT is the only merchant bank in The Bahamas and is a joint venture with Royal Bank of Canada.

It provides investment products and services and attracts the majority of the corporate business deals in The Bahamas, most recently acting as financial advisor and placement agent for the largest Initial Public Offering ( IPO ) ever in The Bahamas with the IPO of Commonwealth Brewery, a Heineken subsidiary.