Saint Lucia’s citizenship-by-investment program has secured the top spot in terms of Investment Requirements, Residence Requirements and Physical Visit Requirements in the Global Residence and Citizenship Programs 2017–2018 report.

The report is the industry standard for benchmarking and measuring the attractiveness of investment migration programs, and was released today by global residence and citizenship advisory firm Henley & Partners, ahead of its 11th Global Residence and Citizenship Conference.

The event is held this year in Hong Kong, from 14 to 16 November 2017.

Saint Lucia — The newest addition to the Caribbean’s program offerings

The Saint Lucia Citizenship-by-Investment Program is the newest of all the current programs around the world, having only been launched in January 2016. As a result, the program is still in its infancy and is continually being developed and improved. Saint Lucia attracts foreign business and investment, especially in the banking and tourism sector. The nation’s manufacturing sector is also the most diverse in the eastern Caribbean area. Successful applicants of its citizenship-by-investment program benefit from visa-free travel to 127 countries worldwide, including Europe’s Schengen area.

The 3rd edition of the Global Residence and Citizenship Programs report provides a systematic analysis and comprehensive benchmarking of the world’s leading investment migration programs. These programs were evaluated by a distinguished panel of independent experts — including immigration and citizenship lawyers, economists, country risk experts, academic researchers, and other specialists — who took into account a broad range of factors pertaining to each program. The result is a global bird’s-eye view of the investment migration industry and a ranking of all the major programs on offer.

Hugh Morshead, Group Director of Henley & Partners, says, “The Global Residence and Citizenship Programs publication is an indispensable tool, not only for all those interested in alternative residence or citizenship but also for professionals such as private client advisors, private bankers, lawyers, as well as governments operating investment migration programs.”

Saint Lucia was also recognized in the areas of:

Reputation
Quality of Life
Visa-free Access
Processing Time and Quality of Processing
Compliance
Relocation Flexibility
Transparency

A growing interest in residence and citizenship planning

As Morshead explains, the need for a reference and benchmarking tool like the Global Residence and Citizenship Programs reflects the strong growth of the investment migration industry in recent years.

“Interest in the industry has steadily increased over the past decade, and we anticipate that it will continue to do so,” he says. “In fact, we again expect hundreds of attendees from over 40 countries at this month’s Global Residence and Citizenship Conference in Hong Kong.”

The annual event, now in its 11th year, has become the world’s most significant conference on investment migration. It brings together presidents, prime ministers, senior government officials, leading academics, and industry professionals, as well as top-tier financial and business media.

According to Morshead, this year’s conference offers delegates the opportunity to engage with the leading minds and ideas driving the growing trend towards global mobility and citizenship.

Key speakers at the conference include investment legend and global financial commentator, Jim Rogers, who will speak about the trends and issues affecting global citizens and their investments, and the Prime Minister of Malta, the Hon. Dr. Joseph Muscat, who will talk about the advantages of Maltese citizenship for Asian investors.

Professor Dr. Dimitry Kochenov will discuss the latest edition of the Henley & Partners – Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index, explaining how the quality of a nationality affects the movement of talent and business, while John Wong, PwC’s Private Client Services Leader in China and Hong Kong, will provide the latest insight into tax planning for Chinese private clients.

“Following the unprecedented success of this event year after year, we again expect the conference in Hong Kong to be more influential than the one before,” Morshead concludes.

Source: stlucianewsonline.com