St. Kitts CIP set for future growth

The 2018 Caribbean Investment Summit, held in St. Kitts and Nevis brought together all 5 Caribbean countries with a citizenship by investment (CBI) offering to discuss how to increase cooperation and coordination, thereby improving standards and promoting the industry as a whole. The key topic that this year’s summit focused on was Unity in the Age of Division: Emerging Trends of CIPs in an Uncertain World.

The keynote speech, conducted by Dr. Timothy Harris, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis who commented that, while the concept of citizenship by investment and offering high net-worth individuals from around the globe the opportunity to become a citizen has been adopted by many countries the world-over, St. Kitts were the original pioneers of the concept.

Speaking on the growth of the programs globally, Dr. Harris noted “Competition has surged along with interest in Citizenship by Investment programmes”. His assertion is correct with numerous countries in the Caribbean, Europe and South Pacific now offering CIPs.  However, even with the increased competition, the Kittian CBI program has prospered, receiving 1,200 applications in just 6 months under the hurricane relief fund. This fund, which closed on March 30th of this year, was introduced last fall to provide economic relief in the aftermath of hurricanes Maria and Irma which ravaged the country last year.

Although extremely successful in raising capital, the fund has since closed with its long term, strategic announcement, the Sustainable Growth Fund being unveiled. This fund, which requires an investment of $150,000 for a single applicant will be used to develop sectors such as health care, education and tourism.

The program is expected to continue to grow and prosper in the coming years, setting the stage for further economic growth and an increase in incoming foreign investment.