Warning against the perils of an adversarial approach towards economic citizenship, the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis urged the members of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to choose a cooperative and integrated approach to the program which is growing in popularity.
St. Kitts was the first country to offer citizenship in lieu of investment when it introduced its citizenship by investment program in 1984. With demand surging post the introduction of the revamped program, the country has attracted investments in excess of $1 billion with a significant chunk of revenues going towards development of hotels and villas on the islands.
With more than half the member nations of the OECS offering investment immigration programs aimed at wealthy migrants, the Prime Minister sought a regional plan and a mutually-beneficial regional approach to maximize economic returns with minimal security risks. .
The St. Kitts program came under scrutiny when Canada withdrew the visa-free entry facility for its citizens while the US Treasury Department issued advisories to institutions warning against dealing with individuals who had obtained citizenship of the Islands through the investment immigration program. These steps were initiated due to discovery of significant due diligence omissions in the grant of citizenship by the Island nation.
The Prime Minister warned against a race to the bottom due to the competition among the Caribbean nations to attract wealthy migrants. He opined that reduction of minimum investment requirements may lead to devaluation of the value of citizenship of all the nations in the region.
Further, he said that a regional approach will mitigate risks of the countries’ passports ending up in the unsuitable and ineligible individuals. Emphasizing on the importance of due diligence, the PM highlighted the need for effective reforms to strengthen security and credibility.
Referring to the benefits enjoyed by all the nations by adopting a cooperative approach towards tourism, the PM said that all nations must work together to strengthen the reputation of investment immigration programs among global investors and institutions.
While the previous economic citizenship conference was hosted by St. Kitts and Nevis in June 2015, a similar conference was recently hosted by Antigua and Barbuda in December 2015 for discussions on industry practices, due diligence and other factors affecting the functioning of citizenship by investment schemes.
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