Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS) — St. Kitts and Nevis is open for business to legitimate investors was again reiterated by Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris in the opening statement of his monthly press conference.
“To genuine investors I regret consequential delays you may have experienced as my government paused and took stock of a programme which was sullied when we inherited it from the former regime,” Prime Harris emphasized on Tuesday (April 28.) “We welcome your interest and investment in our beautiful island. To the developers like Park Hyatt etc. who are creating projects that will bring employment and investment to our country, we say you are most welcome. We understand that the CBI is a useful source of funding legitimate developers who create a positive economic impact on our islands, they will continue to enjoy the benefits of the programme.”
Prime Minister Harris noted that such developments fall under the Tourism sector which he said “is a great source of income for this country.” He also stated that as part of the restructuring of the Citizenship By Investment (CBI) programme there will be a need for review and assessment. This includes the enactment of 20 reforms on the CBI programme, as recommended by IPSA International Inc., a US-based risk management firm. The review of previously approved applications had been revealed as one of the reforms.
“We are looking of course at other projects, some projects which in many ways we consider to be unbecoming of the signature of an approved project under this programme,” he reflected. “Some of these have been described as projects representing ‘building empty boxes’ – too small for value, overpriced in nature. This government is concerned about such developments and in time we shall indicate how we intend to move forward to ensure that these projects do not again sully what should be the beautiful landscape of St. Kitts and Nevis.”
The federation’s Prime Minister promised that: “there’ll be greater transparency, there’ll be greater efficiency in the work of the CBI Unit.”