An online marketplace for island businesses to sell Bermudian products and experiences will be launched at the end of the month.

David Burt told the House of Assembly on Friday that the economic recovery plan had identified the establishment of a small business online marketplace as one of 31 priorities.

He said the plan, aimed at elimination of expensive individual set-ups, large monthly fees and merchant account complexities, was “substantially complete” and would be named “byBermuda”.

It will be launched on eMonday – November 29 – and the website can be found at www.bybermuda.bm.

Mr Burt also revealed that a fish processing plan at first planned for Marginal Wharf in St David’s would now be created at a West End site.

He said a business plan was being completed under a steering committee led by the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Fishermen’s Association of Bermuda.

Mr Burt added: “The plan will consider how such a facility will benefit the public, create opportunities to show a return on Government’s investment and offer additional options and co-operative business benefits to participating fishers.

“The plan will meet the current and future needs of the fishing industry, put fishers at the centre to best control their industry, take into consideration current economic conditions, as well as consider short to long term fisheries development factors.”

Mr Burt said that after a consultation with the “Big Four” professional services firms, KPMG was awarded a $144,000 contract to launch the economic recovery plan’s project management office.

He added: “At the conclusion of the KPMG engagement, the consultants will deliver a project management plan complete with resource requirements, key milestones and timelines, actions and enablers required to progress the 31 initiatives and a risk management regime to identify, prioritise, monitor and, where possible, mitigate risks.“

Mr Burt said nine of the 31 projects in the economic recovery programme were almost completed.

Other projects included work on residential developments in economic empowerment zones to increase the supply of affordable housing.

A policy for an energy regulatory sandbox – a set of rules – has been produced and Mr Burt said the Government was in discussions with a company that will likely be the first applicant for a sandbox licence.

He added the Regulatory Authority of Bermuda was dealing with enquiries from companies that wanted to be part of a proposed hub for submarine communication cables.

Mr Burt said legislation on a drug formulary was passed in the last session of Parliament.

He added: “The Bermuda Health Council, using recommendations from the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee, will regulate the prices at which common, essential medications, along with associated products and devices used in medical treatments, are sold to the public thereby reducing the largest out of pocket health expenditure for a large segment of the community.”

Mr Burt said the public could visit gov.bm/economicrecovery after midday to learn more about the economic recovery plan and check on the status of the 31 key projects.