Prime Minister Douglas stumps for Indian investors in Punjab, India

BASSETERRE,ST. KITTS, APRIL 6TH 2012 (CUOPM) – St. Kitts and Nevis is hopeful that the twin-island Federation will benefit from Indian investment in tourism, renewable energy, financial services and manufacturing.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, who is on an Official Working Visit to India was guest of honour at a Business Banquet hosted at Bath Castle in Ludhiana, the industrial capital of Punjab State, India, on Friday night.

St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas gets an official welcome with a Guard of Honour in Punjab State, India

Dr. Douglas delivered a powerful statement to over 100 Indian industrialists and business people about possibilities for developing partnerships between the business communities in both India and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Prime Minister Douglas stressed the global economic and financial recession has had severe impact not only on large economies in Europe, Asia and the United States, but also on small economies around the world.

For this reason he emphasized that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis could no longer pursue its public sector investment programme alone, but must now rely heavily on new partnerships with the private sector especially those in Brazil and India; hence his visit to India at this critical juncture.

At the end of the evening, a delegation of 20 business people met with Prime Minister Douglas to express their desire to undertake a visit to St. Kitts and Nevis to map out possible partnerships in the areas of tourism, renewable energy, tourism, financial services and manufacturing.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Douglas continues his working visit to Chandigarh with a tour of an1800-bed hospital facility to discuss health tourism as part of the diversification strategy for tourism development for St. Kitts and Nevis.

Prime Minister Douglas has described his visit so far as “not only timely but quite successful.”

Prime Minister Douglas is accompanied by His Excellency Mr. Kevin Isaac, St. Kitts and Nevis’ High Commissioner in London and Senior Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ms. Beverly Knight.

The St. Kitts and Nevis leader is the second Caribbean Prime Minister to visit India this year. In January, the Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago visited the Asian nation.