it did happen. Thankfully we now have two pillars to our economy which benefit Bermuda in roughly equal shares. If we did not have international company business, today our economy would be in very bad shape indeed.

It took a great deal of carelessness over a long period of time to disrupt tourism because it was firmly established and broad based. That is not true of international company business. The boom in company business, especially the reinsurance industry, is relatively recent and has a much more narrow focus.

Unlike hotel owners who have huge investments here, companies can and will leave quickly if they are not secure and comfortable in Bermuda. A decision by just one of the larger companies to seek a more friendly or less expensive place to do their business could easily start a trend away from Bermuda.

International companies do not have to be in Bermuda. They are here because it is convenient to be here. Bermuda competes for the presence of these companies with any number of other places which can and will give them far more consideration and a much warmer welcome than Bermuda does. These companies did not come here to be our whipping boys for Bermudians nor should they be taken for granted as a convenience for Bermudians.

In a time of troubled tourism Bermudians have to accept the great value of these companies to Bermuda's lifestyle. There should be general agreement that as a country we will work together to ensure that Bermuda continues to be convenient and that these companies are comfortable doing their business here.

We do not always do that. There are far too many complaints and there is far too little acceptance of the value of international business to Bermuda. One ongoing inconvenience is work permits. These companies change experienced staff quite often and quite rapidly. In Bermuda they are subject to the usual immigration permits and that can be a tiresome inconvenience.

We are not suggesting that companies should be allowed to either ignore Bermudians or deprive Bermudians of jobs for which they are qualified. However we have to recognise that they are a great supplier of jobs for those Bermudians we have worked so hard to educate to high levels.

It is true to say that every senior employee of these companies who is here on a work permit generates jobs for Bermudians. Far too often we ignore that fact. We cannot expect them to pander to every Bermudian who demands a job without the qualifications to fill that job. Far too often we inconvenience these contributors to our general economy to protect a few Bermudians and to do so we endanger the livelihood of all Bermudians.

We must remember that we have come very close to destroying our tourist industry and if we continue our selfish and protectionist policies we could do the same thing to international business. The difference is that there will be no slow down-turn for international companies. They can and will leave in a hurry if it becomes inconvenient for them to be in Bermuda.