A Blast From The Past

St. Kitts and Nevis Expects a Six Percent Growth Next Year, PM Tells Investors

Tuesday, August 29th, 2000 — Economic growth in St Kitts and Nevis is expected to exceed six percent by next year, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Denzil L Douglas has disclosed.

He told a group of 40 persons interested in St Kitts and in purchasing villas under construction at Frigate Bay that the dawn of the new millennium has found St. Kitts poised for a major economic leap forward and the immediate goal of his St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party Government is the creation of four thousand new jobs directly and another thousand indirectly through substantial additions to the existing hotel plant.

The seminar was organized by Administrative Service Limited/Paradise Beach Resort & Casino which is presently constructing a 400-room condominium complex at Frigate Bay. Also under construction at Frigate Bay is the 900-room Royal St Kitts Resort & Casino which will boast a 1500-seat conference center. The 204-room GolfView Estates has just been completed and Sun N’ Sand is being expanded and will be under the Rex Group when completed at the start of the upcoming Winter Season.

Prime Minister Douglas said St Kitts and Nevis is not only a place where investor confidence runs high, it is also a place where investors are welcome to settle, subject to certain conditions.

“The country is a haven for investors. Economic growth, steady over the past years, is expected to exceed six percent by next year,” said Prime Minister Douglas, adding: “This, in spite of the fact that we have had to contend with the occasional hurricane during the last few years. But we are a hardy people as those of you who have decided to invest here will discover. We recover quickly from what others would term disasters.”

He said the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis has a most favourable attitude towards investment and provides generous incentives including corporate tax holidays of between ten and fifteen years depending on the value added and provision has also been made for the granting of an export allowance and exemption from import duties in certain cases.

The Prime Minister stressed his government has decided that the way forward for St. Kitts and Nevis is informatics, offshore financial services, and tourism. Of these three, tourism is expected to assume the major role.

He noted that the continued downward pressure on the price of sugar and the increasing threat to small economies from the policies of the World Trade Organisation, leave St Kitts and Nevis no choice but to search for other means of achieving economic growth.

Touting government’s policy of an infrastructure necessary to accommodate the demands created by high-end investment and a literacy rate of 98 percent, Prime Minister Douglas said his administration has launched a vigorous programme of training in knowledge-based services. “This will prepare our young work force to meet the challenges of generating wealth in the new millennium,” he said.

The St Kitts and Nevis leader boasted his government’s recent upgrade in the road network, a sound international financial services sector, reduced inflation to a manageable 2.5 percent and low crime due to the vigilance and hard work of the police force.

He noted that tourist arrivals have been increasing steadily during the past years, thanks to a vigorous marketing programme.

The St Kitts and Nevis leader assured the investors of a warm welcome from his Government whenever they come to these shores. “We are engaged in a common enterprise. On the one hand, the investor has the satisfaction of seeing his or her investment grow, and on the other the Government and people of the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis are beneficiaries in terms of enhancement of the quality of their lives. We are partners in a common enterprise of human development and nation building,” he said.

St Kitts and Nevis laws contain a provision that allows investors to acquire citizenship in the Federation. Under the Citizenship by Investment Programme, a person is entitled upon making application to the Minister in a prescribed manner, and on the payment of a prescribed fee, to be registered as a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis, without any rights of voting except under, and in accordance with the provisions of any law governing the qualification of voters, as long as the Cabinet is satisfied that such a person has invested substantially in St. Christopher and Nevis.

There is no income tax in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. There are other taxes such as corporate income tax, capital gains tax, and withholding tax, that apply in certain cases, and are on the whole of rather modest proportion. There is no net worth tax, gift tax, sales tax, turnover tax, or estate duty.