CBI Helps Develop Economic Sector
St Kitts and Nevis’ Minister of International Trade Lindsay Grant, recognised the important role that the country’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme plays in the development of several key economic sectors of the twin-island nation. Attending the Caribbean Green Tech Start-Up Bootcamp opening event in Basseterre, Grant highlighted the areas that benefit from revenues from the island’s newest CBI investment channel – the Sustainable Growth Fund (SGF) – such as education, sustainability, infrastructure and tourism.
Introduced in March last year by Prime Minister Timothy Harris, the SGF was designed to provide global investors with the most direct way to the country’s coveted citizenship, while supporting socio-economic development on the islands. Although it has only been active for a year, the impact of the SGF is already felt on the islands. A recent report by the Caribbean Development Bank attributes part of St Kitts and Nevis’ economic growth specifically to the SGF, with revenues projected to continue to increase this year.
Grant highlighted that “revenue from the SGF is used to support sustainable growth initiatives, education, climate change resilience, economic growth, infrastructure development, the enhancement of medical facilities, tourism development and the preservation of culture and our heritage.” Prime Minister Timothy Harris had also praised the country’s CBI Programme’s “incredible success” during his most recent annual budget address, noting that it gave the Government the “fiscal space” to implement a series of initiatives, such as the Poverty Alleviation Programme that provides households earning less than EC$3,000 per month with a EC$500 aid. Several infrastructural developments that support locally-sourced materials, servicing and employment are also partly funded by the CBI Programme.
St Kitts and Nevis has been running its Citizenship by Investment Programme since 1984, making it the longest-serving and most experienced in the world. It provides eligible global investors and their families with a second citizenship of a well-connected, prosperous country, with the prospects of passing down citizenship to all future generations. All applicants are subjected to thorough due diligence checks, which now include digital fingerprinting – a premiere amongst Caribbean CBI jurisdictions.
Source: thestkittsnevisobserver.com
Published: 29 March 2019
