BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – RECENTLY, Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas has lashed back at the business community and the St. Kitts-Nevis Chamber of Industry and Commerce (CIC) for complaints concerning the influx of Chinese-owned businesses within recent years.
“If they are bringing competition to the businessmen of St. Kitts and Nevis, so what? So what? So what if they bring competition? It is to the benefit of the people. So what if they bring competition?” Dr. Douglas expressed during his most-recent press conference.
Weeks ago, the CIC complained that the influx is not healthy for the country and alleged that the Chinese receive an unfair advantage over local businesses.
“This is a free market society, free market system that we are operating under. So that is why it disturbs me when I hear the Chamber making these statements. I don’t understand why, I really don’t understand why. And some of the arguments are that it is unfair competition because they get cheap capital from Mainland China to invest and the local businessmen can’t get that cheap capital.”
Prime Minister Douglas – who also holds the portfolio for Finance – suggested that rather than complaining about the competition, local businessmen should themselves become more competitive, which would redound to the benefit of the business entities and their customers.
“The local businessmen must understand that they have had – for years, maybe centuries – total monopoly on business here in St. Kitts and Nevis. For God’s sake, if there is no competition, open it up! You be creative, you become enterprising, find ways of being competitive as well. That’s all I’m saying! And I speak for myself…
“I say that because the Cabinet has become seized of this debate and has put in place a committee drawn from several departments and ministries to look at this issue because it has come to our attention. But I speak for myself when I spoke a while ago and I speak for the government until a policy is developed that changes that and the Prime Minister.”
Dr. Douglas said, too, that certain comments were made from “platforms” suggesting that persons are going to drive the Chinese out of St. Kitts, which he described these as “ignorant” and “stupid”.
“In a modern country like St. Kitts and Nevis…trying to bring divide among our people. So we going to drive out the Indians as well? We are going to do that? We are going to drive out the white people as well? That’s what we’ve descended to today? That’s what we have descended to?
“And so I really don’t like to get into this kind of discussion and debate because a lot of it ignorance, with respect…And if the Chinese businessmen are doing business here and they are citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis, why should we restrict them if they are bringing a particular enterprise that the people of St. Kitts and Nevis don’t mind?”
