Ambassador Izben Williams Talks About The Opportunities To Invest In The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis

Ambassador Izben Williams talked with The International Reports about investment opportunities in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and other important issues critical to the development and welfare of his country at this juncture.

Question: Why do you feel there is need for consultation to create electoral reform?
Answer: We have a tradition of participatory as well as representative democracy in St. Kitts and Nevis, active citizenship, and the Government is fully committed to transparency and good governance in all its undertakings. Given this tradition, consultation - particularly on issues with profound implications for the future of all our people — is considered an indispensable facet of our mores. Our people are acculturated to expect consultation.

With specific regard to electoral reform, my Government considers periodic review, and when necessary reform of the electoral system, to be one of the hallmarks of a strong and mature democracy.

Question: How do the continued challenges to the Federation as it faces the change from the sugar industry affect the island’s debt and the welfare of the people?
Answer: The cultivation and processing of sugar has been an integral part of the social, economic and cultural landscape of our people for over three hundred years. The decision was taken to implement, in a staged and structured way, a comprehensive plan of action that would cover all the significant effects of the closure of this industry. We first ensured that the dislocated workers were fairly compensated, that opportunities for training and skills-retooling were made available to them, and that social safety net policies and programs were in place to cushion this difficult transition. Following upon that initial phase, we are now putting in place a social and economic transformation process that lays the foundation for sustainable growth and a development framework different from that of the past, which was based on the sugar monoculture. Access to funding for the transformation program is currently our biggest challenge but we have had encouraging results to date.

In April, 2006 the transformation program was encapsulated in the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis Adaptation Strategy, which both analyses the impacts of the closure of the sugar industry and sets out a comprehensive development strategy, designed not only to mitigate untoward impacts but, overtime, to move the country on to a new level of self-sustaining growth. The Strategy is to be implemented over the next eight years beginning in 2006/7.

The closure of the sugar industry has certainly increased the national debt and the country’s debt servicing obligations. Integral, therefore, to the general Adaptation Strategy is a debt management and sustainability strategy that describes a number of actions and targets ranging from reform and modernisation of the tax system to privatisation of state assets, intended to resolve the debt problem over the next ten to fifteen years.

In all this we are particularly mindful that our intervention policies should ultimately protect, and better the conditions of, the most vulnerable of our citizens and should ensure not only economic but also environmental sustainability.

Question: What are the biggest opportunities for foreign investors? What makes St. Kitts and Nevis a legitimate and bona fide place in which to invest?
Answer: There have always been many foreign investment opportunities in St. Kitts and Nevis. At this time some of the broad investment opportunity areas are in Agro-industry; Manufacturing; Tourism, Financial and other services; ICT and high technology-based enterprises. Although tourism and the wider hospitality sub-sectors are obvious growth poles there are also exciting opportunities to invest in technical and technologically advanced endeavors.

St. Kitts and Nevis has a literacy rate 97.5%, high levels of secondary and tertiary education and computer literacy, and a flexible and easily trainable workforce. The Government also encourages foreign direct investment (FDI) in different areas of the economy through a generous incentive regime that includes tax exemptions and other investor-friendly concessions. Our attractiveness to foreign investors is aptly exemplified by the 2005 IMF Country Report which states that between 1999 and 2003 St. Kitts and Nevis had the highest FDI Performance Index amongst the Eastern Caribbean (OECS) Countries. Incidentally, information on our investment policies and priorities can be obtained from our Embassy here in Washington.
Courtesy of Ottley’s Plantation Inn.

The new tourism - A sugar factory is transformed into an elegant inn.

Question: What do the new high-end tourism developments mean for St. Kitts? How would these developments and the concerns for their environmental impact balance with the socio-economic interests of the citizens?
Answer: These developments are extremely significant for the continued success of the industry and for the development of the country as a whole, given tourism’s lead role in our economy. High end tourism covers a segment of the market that is needed to complete the tourism product and to truly make St. Kitts a comprehensive destination with broad appeal.
Adding luxury to the mix in terms of cooperate and professional conference facilities, fine restaurants, luxury villas, spas, golf courses and like amenities will enable us to pursue a variety of niche markets, putting the emphasis on quality in order to grow the industry.
Regarding sustainability, Sustainable Tourism certainly implies taking care of the environment but it must include the concept of promoting balanced development so as to make environmental sustainability possible. The main objective of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is to develop new frameworks and holistic attitudes to tourism and development, whilst ensuring that the citizenry benefit from all the economic activities generated by tourism and the wider hospitality sector.

Question: What are the challenges facing the Ambassador with the negative report in the US Senate regarding off-shore tax havens.
Answer: Recognizing that sugar production could not be continued as our major foreign exchange earner, the Government embarked on an economic diversification program to reposition our people and our economy to better compete in this era of globalization. My Government therefore attaches great importance to the financial services sector of our economic activity and we will continue to ensure that it complies with internationally recognized standards.

Question: What have been the biggest changes in the last 10 years and what changes are anticipated in the next 10 years.
Answer: Substantial changes have been brought about over the past ten years, some visible and others not so readily apparent. There have been very visible changes to the building environment and physical infrastructure of St. Kitts and Nevis. These changes have been landmarks in the accelerating transformation of our economy from one dominated by plantation agriculture to one that is now service-led. As investment in the tourism and related hospitality services have increased so too have corresponding improvements in transport networks, utilities, in other support services and in overall infrastructure, been made. There have also been significant improvements in all forms of communication.

I believe, however, that there are some more subtle yet incalculable changes that have been taking place over the past ten years and that these will provide the springboard for our development in the 21st century. We have, for example, become more mindful of the value and importance of our human resource and of role that technology can play, in balancing out our vulnerabilities and enabling us to grow our economy and manage our society on a more sustainable, fair and equitable basis. The importance of the natural environment for our survival, particularly in the context of our fragility as a small island developing state, is now more critically understood. In addition we are bent on instilling in our youth a spirit of entrepreneurship so that they are educated for self reliance. These, I think, are some important and far reaching perceptual changes.

As for the future, we have before us a EUROS 375.4 million (US$461.9 million) transformation program which contains such highlights as: constructing agricultural feeder roads, facilitating the private sector in developing agro-processing enterprises, extending and enhancing heritage tourism assets, preserving coral reefs and coastal water quality, establishing an ICT Park to attract Foreign Direct Investment, establishing a micro finance program to provide seed money to small entrepreneurs and many other forward thinking initiatives. We are aggressively seeking funds in order to realize these targeted objectives. If we can achieve most of these targets, the overall transformation of our country would be phenomenal.

Question: What does the World Cup mean for St. Kitts-Nevis?
Answer: We are extremely proud of having prepared and established our Federation to become the smallest ever World Cup Cricket venue. Much of our expenditure in the Ministry of Tourism, Sports and Culture over the past year has been focused on completing our obligations as a World Cup venue. We are thereby positioning our country as a significant player in the enlightened mix of sports, cultural and events-tourism business.

The legacy of this major world event is already unfolding, especially since the opening of the new Warner Park Cricket Stadium, which is now a premier multi-purpose facility, hosting major sporting, cultural and entertainment events. This facility will increasingly become a significant tourist attraction, adding to our tourism product. In fact Government’s vision for our Federation as a World Cup venue encompasses numerous legacy benefits.

Question: How does the Ambassador work with the Prime Minister to ensure that the Federation is well integrated into the Washington DC machinery?
Answer: Prime Minister Douglas attaches much importance to St. Kitts and Nevis foreign relations generally and particularly to relations with our prosperous neighbor, the United States, with whom we want to continue building on our existing harmonious relations and wide cooperation. In this regard I therefore have frequent consultations with Capital, particularly with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. Effective representation must be informed by regular consultation so that the priorities of St. Kitts and Nevis are guided by and remain in synchrony with the changing dynamics of the international stage. The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is itself changing rapidly and it is critical to keep abreast, and correctly interpret the implications of our evolving circumstances, for the guidance of meaningful foreign policy; hence the imperative of continuous dialogue. Likewise I keep engaged with players on the Hill and in U S Government Agencies. But the Ambassador must also remain in touch with many other individuals, organizations and entities whose legitimate activities could accrue, directly or indirectly, to the benefit of St. Kitts and Nevis.

Our relations with the host country, the United States, particularly over the past ten years, have been friendly and mutually beneficial within the framework of bilateral and multilateral cooperation activities. One such significant cooperation activity is the CARICOM-US Conference on the Caribbean which is to be convened in June 2007. CARICOM and the US Government have been working cooperatively on this initiative, mediated jointly by the Caucus of CARICOM Ambassadors in Washington and the Department of State

CARICOM looks forward to this heightened engagement. As Chairman of the CARICOM Caucus of Ambassadors for the past six months, I have been regularly assured that this conference is being accorded the highest priority by Secretary of State Rice and by the US Government. We trust that this Conference and the new Congress would auger better for the Caribbean in its dealings with Washington. What we are ultimately interested in is the bolstering of our capacity so that we are better positioned to deliver on the promise of prosperity to our people.r people have the fortitude to succeed and we will eventually succeed."