BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Feb.27.2018 – On the sidelines of the CARICOM Intersessional Meeting in Haiti this week, Governments providing Citizenship By Investment will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to set standards for CBI programmes across the region.
That announcement was made at a recently held press conference, following the ECCB’s Monetary Council meeting in Basseterre.
“We have been discussing the issue of CBI among ourselves as Heads of Government, and also as heads of the various Units. There is a draft MOU which all of us have agreed to in principle, and that is being discussed among our technical people. We are hoping that we can have a meeting on the margins of the CARICOM meeting in Haiti this month to finalize the MOU,” Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt told reporters.
He said that in addition to standardizing the programme across all member states, the MOU will allow for greater information sharing among states in order to keep illicit actors out.
“I must say that all of the countries that have the CBI programmes are very keen on this collaborative project. It is just a matter for us to finalize it, have it ratified and implemented.”
Against that backdrop, he reminded that the CBI programme is an important source of revenue for all the islands that have it as part of their economies.
Additionally, the Dominica PM stated that it is especially important at this stage for those countries that were impacted by the hurricanes.
“But we have to be mindful of the issues raised by the various stakeholders, and where there is merit in those instances we have to address them.”
The Citizenship by Investment programme in the region has been described by many as a race to the bottom. It has also seen a number of islands competing to remain relevant in the marketplace.
Despite tougher due diligence measures implemented across the region, the programme is still coming in for harsh criticism at home and abroad.
Antigua and Barbuda recently had its visa waiver programme to Canada revoked, and calls for tougher measures to be implemented.
