Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 13, 2009 (SKNIS): The Youth Empowerment through Skills (Y.E.S.) Project has been effective in placing hundreds of young people in job attachments while offering skills training to many more.

This was stressed by Prime Minister Honourable Dr. Denzil Douglas during an interview with SKNIS. He explained that Government was mindful of internal and external economic factors, and was compelled to act to generate further activity in the country.

“People needed to be given opportunities,” said Prime Minister Douglas. “Even though we are a small country with very limited resources, especially at this time when we are being impacted by the realities of the global financial and economic crisis, we nevertheless believed that this was the investment stimulus package that we needed here in St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Prime Minister stressed that the United States of America and other developed countries have implemented several variations of stimulus packages that total hundreds of millions of dollars and more. He noted that the situation in St. Kitts and Nevis called for a targeted investment approach by Government into the human resource of the nation.

“In a services-oriented economy, people need to acquire the skills so that they can provide those services and thrive in the new economy,” Prime Minister Douglas added.

Over the past year, Government has also granted duty concessions totaling millions of dollars to a range of businesses with services of various kinds. These include the Small Hotel Incentive Package granted in January and concessions for stand alone restaurants outlined in April.

Additionally, a tax amnesty is currently available for all businesses and individuals in arrears with the Inland Revenue Department. The conditions, which end in September, allow persons to settle all outstanding taxes without having to pay interest and penalty fees.