Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)(Press Secretary’s Office): Three key pillars will bolster St. Kitts and Nevis’ evolution of its longstanding Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. In announcing the changes that will enhance and strengthen the twin-island nation’s CBI Programme, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, The Honourable Dr Terrance Drew highlighted Sustainability, Good Governance, and Pragmatism as the guiding principles in the government’s decision-making.
“We need to ensure that our treasured Citizenship by Investment Programme is mutually beneficial for all stakeholders, from the people of St Kitts and Nevis to the investors themselves, the developers, the local service providers and the international marketing agents. While we have always been the benchmark of the global investor immigration industry, we understand that to remain one of the most sought-after economic citizenship programmes in the world, we need to continue to evolve and forge a path for ourselves that is sustainable in the long term.”
The Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis was, at the time, addressing citizens, investors, and stakeholders during an exclusive cocktail event for the unveiling of St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme’s “Evolution”, in Dubai, UAE.
The Prime Minister and Minister responsible for National Security, Immigration and Citizenship, stated that the “evolved” CBI Programme will be a long-term model based on integrity, transparency, and accountability, to strengthen the legislative and administrative structures of the programme.
He stated that – “Effective January 1, 2023, a Professional CBI Board of Governors will be responsible for high-level supervisory matters such as providing general oversight of the operations of the CBI Unit; developing and implementing policies and procedures for the Unit; ensuring that application processing is completed as efficiently as possible within the time frames advertised without comprising the integrity of the programme, and constantly monitoring the global investor immigration industry to ensure that our CBI regulations align with, and adjust to, international market forces.
Further, in our good governance agenda, a CBI Technical Committee will be charged with ensuring that all due diligence background checks are comprehensive; reviewing all CBI applications thoroughly; and making recommendations to the Prime Minister in his capacity as Minister of National Security, Immigration and Citizenship.”
Attendees were also enthralled by the Minister of Tourism et al, Hon. Marsha Henderson’s address where she adeptly described the myriad of positive changes to the country’s tourism product. Minister Henderson also used the opportunity to spotlight the new “Venture Deeper” campaign which highlights St. Kitts and Nevis’ natural environment, historic landmarks, and immersive cultural experiences.
The Minister stated- “As we emerge from the COVID-19 era, I am honoured to lead our tourism industry into this new chapter, to prioritize the tourism rebuilding process and encourage economic development. In addition, as we move forward, our goal is to diversify our products and services to offer opportunities to both our visitors and potential investors to our Federation, making our destination one of the best places to live, work and invest.”
The government of St. Kitts and Nevis continue to work tirelessly towards the economic development and sustainability of our nation by encouraging investment opportunities and recreating and redesigning our tourism product to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of our people.
St. Kitts and Nevis have pioneered the CBI programme for four (4) decades, allowing our Federation to thrive and our people to advance in various sectors. The vision to use economic citizenship to attract international investment was innovative in 1984. The Citizenship by Investment Programme’s first major evolution 27 years later in 2011 was bold and creative and now it is time to take it a step further.