Bermuda should prepare for some bumpy times ahead, according to the head of Bermuda International Business Association.

Speaking on the eve of the International Business Public Forum to be held today by BIBA, chief executive officer Pat Phillip-Bassett said international business leaders wanted to get as much information out into the public domain about the knock-on effects Bermuda could face in the current world crisis.

She said: "We want to try and calm the people in this time of uncertainty and to prepare people, because we may be in for some bumpy times ahead."

Asked if BIBA had put a forum together because the Government had been silent for so long, Ms Phillip-Bassett said: "I think that as much reasoned informed discussion and information that it out there, the better, no matter who is giving out that information."

The two-hour forum will include top business leaders and will begin at 6 p.m. at St. Paul's Centennial Hall.

She added: "It will also help the community to prepare for any necessary adjustments we all may have to make in our daily lives, depending on how deeply our economy is affected."

Ms Phillip-Bassett said about the meeting: "It is to make sure people hear what is going on from the international business perspective and how we may be affected by the ripple-effect and how the economy might be. International business is recognised as a very large part of our economy. People are speculating about what effects there will be on employment and on the economy. We want to give a realistic assessment, this is how we see it in the short term, and these are the steps we are taking."

Speakers include Philip Butterfield, the chief operating officer of Bank of Bermuda, David Ezekiel, chairman of the International Companies Division, William Griffiths, president of the Bermuda Hotel Association, Mark Herman, president officer of ACE Bermuda, Raymond Medeiros, chairman of BIBA, Anthony Nagel of the e-commerce Commercial Applications Committee and Greg Wojciechowski, president and chief operating officer of the Bermuda Stock Exchange.