BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 25. 2018 – FORMER Premier and Minister of Labour, Vance Amory is of the view that the St. Kitts and Nevis economy can be further diversified, as he believes that the government will lend support to technology-base investors through the Citizenship by Investment programme.
While addressing reporters at the recently concluded Caribbean Investment Summit, Amory explained that with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) being the way for the future, St. Kitts and Nevis should seek to benefit.
He said that the objective of the Citizenship programme is to create benefits for the country, noting that its main objective is to generate employment.
“I think that someone can create a business which would hire 10, 20, 30 people which create this sort of diversification of the St. Kitts and Nevis economy - and, could that be considered for the citizenship by investment programme? I think that the government will give due recognition for this.”
The federation’s political leader, Dr. Timothy Harris has over the several months implemented two new options to the programme.
Last year, he instituted the Hurricane Relief option, which expired in March, and recently brought in the Sustainable Development Fund.
Minister Amory reminded that there are a number of other developers spread across the various sectors, pointing out that there are a number in the hotel sector.
“The key is for us to attract persons who have an interest in whatever sector they want to make the investment, and that will help us to grow and diversify the economy.”
According to government officials, the federation has the leading CBI programme in the region. However, they are often shying away from releasing the number of new economic citizens to the country.
Moreover, expectations are high after St. Kitts and Nevis for the local programme against it competitors, as the federation recently staged the third edition of the Caribbean Investment Summit, where the islands were showcase to potential investors.
The summit, which was held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort from May 16-19, saw investors, CBI agents and service providers gathered to discuss critical topics and challenges facing the industry.
It was held under the theme: ‘Unity in the age of division. Emerging trends of citizenship programs in an uncertain world.”
The event is sponsored by amongst others, Caribbean Galaxy Real Estate, Bluemina Citizenship and Immigration, Bitcoin.com, BDO, S-RM, Apex Capital, Christophe Harbour, Exiger, Joseph Rowe Law and PassPro.
Sponsorship and delegate packages are available for those who wish to attend via the website https://icsummit.com/. Enquiries are encouraged via the email events@icsummit.com.
