Roadtown, Tortola - Responses by Premier and Minister of Finance Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal, OBE  to the Leader of the Opposition’s questions at the Fourth Sitting of the Second Session of the First House of Assembly of the Virgin Islands
Thursday, 22nd January, 2009

Question 1
Mr. Speaker, would the Honourable Premier please inform this Honourable House of:

a) any efforts that are being implemented to promote entrepreneurship in the Territory;

b) the number of small business owners who have received assistance      through the Small Business Bureau; and

c) the type of assistance that has been rendered to the said small business owners?

Answer:
Mr. Speaker, my Government has undertaken to promote entrepreneurship throughout this territory by way of several initiatives namely:

i) The re-activation of the micro-lending programme with the National Bank of the Virgin Islands to facilitate access to financial resources for existing and future small businesses owners (entrepreneurs), is now being revised.   This special purpose vehicle will provide funding for viable small business ventures at low interest rates.

ii) To establish a small business loan guarantee programme, to provide guarantees in accordance with the provisions set out in section 33 of the Public Finance Management Act 2004. 

 Mr. Speaker, through this programme, we intend to provide guarantees to participating banks to secure loans to qualified applicants.  This intervention would directly benefit emerging entrepreneurs who usually have difficulty gaining access to commercial loans, or overdraft facilities because of lack of sufficient collateral or track record.

iii) To appoint a Small Business Advisory Board to advise government on the issues faced by small business and their needs.

Mr. Speaker, these initiatives are in keeping with my Government’s goal to create a more enabling environment for small businesses, by providing and facilitating access to financial resources to assist entrepreneurs in the creation of new businesses, and the development of existing ones. 

Mr. Speaker, especially in these challenging economic times, my Government is committed to fostering an environment conducive to the development of small and tourism related enterprises, and by extension the small business sector of our economy.

Mr. Speaker, it is not enough to just provide access to financial recourses.  To this end, the Small Business Bureau within the Department of Trade and Consumer Affairs, servers as a intermediary to small and medium enterprises in the territory and has undertaken to assist new and existing small business owners by providing technical assistance, a research centre and training programmes addressing their need.

Mr. Speaker, to date the Small Business Bureau has some ninety (90) registered clients.  However, the Bureau has provided assistance to many more persons who have either visited or called the office but have not registered with the Bureau for one reason or another.

Mr. Speaker, on a day-to-day basis, the Small Business Bureau provides business counselling services to new and existing small business owners.  In particular, the agency assists clients by providing guidance and information on how to start a small business, completing business proposals for bank financing, completing trade license applications, identifying suitable locations for the establishment of business ventures, examining the viability of a business idea in the marketplace (market research), liaising with other government agencies such as Inland Revenue and Social Security.
 
In addition Mr. Speaker, the Bureau has provided training to its clients and the wider business community by way of workshops and seminars.  In June of 2008, the Bureau conducted the first in a series of workshops targeting existing and future entrepreneurs.  Some thirty (30) participants took part in a Business Plan Writing Workshop at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, and from all reports this workshop was a huge success.  The Bureau plans to repeat this workshop on the Sister Island of Virgin Gorda in March of this year.

The Bureau also conducts monthly mini workshops, specifically targeting its clients on matters such as: business accounting; marketing; financial statements; the ABCs of Small Business Loans; and growing your small business.

Further to that Mr. Speaker, the Bureau provides educational resources, public and private sector referrals, and one-to-one counselling to new and existing small business owners.  The Bureau also facilitates networking opportunities amongst its clients and the wider business community.

Mr. Speaker, when the Development Loan Fund Bill which is presently before the House becomes Law and goes into operation, there will be another avenue to facilitate the small businesses and entrepreneurship of our people.

Question 2
Mr. Speaker, would the Honourable Premier please inform this Honourable House of any future plans that are being considered for the Queen Elizabeth Park?

Answer:
Mr. Speaker, it was well known that the dual carriageway was to be continued in the vicinity of the Queen Elizabeth Park, when work commenced on the placement of the elaborate pillars now lining the side of the road.  This of course is the subject of much discussion and concern for my Government, as to the manner in which both developments that are of national importance, can be dealt with in a compatible manner.  That is the reason Mr. Speaker, why much time is now being taken on the design now in progress and I will update this Honourable House at the appropriate time in terms of the final plans for the carriageway and subsequently, the Queen Elizabeth Park.

Question 3
Mr. Speaker, would the Honourable Premier please inform this Honourable House of Government’s intentions with regard to reviewing the cruise ship policy in light of the decision to increase the length of the cruise ship dock ?

Answer:
Mr. Speaker, the matter of Government’s intentions to review the Cruise Policy is not dependant only on the proposal to increase the length of the Cruise Ship Dock.  In fact, the Cruise Ship Dock which was built in 1994 had its first extension added to it in 1999 because of the bigger ships which were coming on stream.

The discussion now on the way, involves looking at the carrying capacity of the islands as to how many people we could responsibly accommodate, taking into account our roads, beaches, and restaurants, among other things.  Obviously, Mr. Speaker, the number of ships would vary due to the amount of passengers on board.  For example, two large ships might moor at the dock and that might be the total number of passengers to be accommodated for a day. 

On the other hand Mr. Speaker, it might be possible to have four smaller ships in the Territory on any given day with fewer passengers.  And so Mr. Speaker, the review of our cruise ship policy will continue to closely scrutinize the key factors that would make for the best experience that our visitors can have locally.

Mr. Speaker, it must be remembered that when taking into account the number of visitors on a cruise ship, account must also be taken on the crew capacity of a ship, as they do form a part of the visitors who come ashore along with the passengers.

Question 4
Mr. Speaker would the Honourable Premier please assure this Honourable House that, in light of the current financial crisis, the investments of the Social Security funds are in good standing ?

Answer:
Mr. Speaker, the investments of the Social Security Board are in good-standing in light of the current financial crisis.  We are very much aware that no financial institution has been spared.  However, the Social Security Board in its execution of its fiduciary responsibilities has established an Investment Policy Statement that provides guidelines for the management of the Fund.  The Social Security Ordinance No. 17 also provides for an Investment Committee which meets monthly at a minimum, and as often as necessary to address matters related to the management and administration of the monies in the Fund. 

The Social Security Fund is allocated into four (4) asset classes namely, Cash and Cash equivalents, Socio-economical Loans, Fixed Income Securities, and Managed Assets.  Three of the four segments of the Portfolio exceeded budgeted projections in terms of expected interest income.  The fourth segment, Managed Assets, has experienced a reduction in valuation in light of the crisis.  The value of the Social Security Fund as at December 31st, 2008 is approximately two hundred and eighty million dollars ($280,000,000.00).  For the Fiscal year 2008, the Board has recognized seventeen million, six hundred and twenty nine thousand, eight hundred and sixty four dollars and thirty one cents ($17,629,864.31), in interest income on its investments.

Despite the overall reduction in market valuation, the Board has outperformed all benchmarks and indices such as the Dow Jones industrial average of 33.84%, the Standard and Poors 500 of 38.49% and the NASDAQ of 40.89%.

Mr. Speaker, in the current financial environment, the Board is in good standing.