St. Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew addressed the whole nation and presented a full-fledged report over Citizenship by Investment Programme status. He also shared the upcoming plans to make transformations in their Sustainable Island State commitment.
While addressing the citizens, PM Drew said that he is here to give a report on the state of the CBI and to present the Administration plan of St. Kitts and Nevis Labour Party for the necessary Federation transformations into Sustainable Island State.
He expressed that together they are building the nation which will shape the future of the upcoming generations. Drew presented the status of two years ago, year 2022, when he became the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Two years ago in 2022, the administration took the office, and the international partners eyed squarely on CBI Programme. Drew stated further that the ill-conceived Team Unity Prison Project resulted in tens of thousands of citizenships that was issued from a single venture and put the visa-free access to the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU) in grave jeopardy.
PM Drew cleared through his addressal that the St. Kitts and Nevis was on the brink of losing the previous visa-free access. He stated that if they had not taken bold or immediate action, then they would have lost the privilege of having visa-free access.
Notably, the evidence recovered was overwhelming and it was confirmed both publicly and privately by International Partners. The previous administration dragged country’s reputation in risk for short-term financial gain and pushed them dangerously towards an economic cliff.
Drew said that he had to make a choice that either to continue down the path of reckless exploitation of CBI or make tough decisions to secure the long-term future, when he joined the office. Then they chose the latter, as they were determined to preserve the respect and reputed good name of St. Kitts and Nevis.
PM Drew also stated that they initiated a full investigation into the CBI programme and received the the first report in Oct-2022. After some time, they commenced a comprehensive legislative review of CBI regulations.
Drew then travelled to Dubai on Dec 01, 2022, which is the epicentre of the global CBI industry. He visited there to announce major reforms of the CBI programme under the banner of Sustainability and Good Governance.
They enacted new CBI regulations into law by Dec 23, 2022. They introduced a Board of Governors to oversee CIU operations and implement a Technical Committee to review files. For the first time in 40 years, the criminalized practices are underselling.
Prime Minister and his team made it clear to the world that St. Kitts and Nevis would be led by example in raising CBI standards. They acted swiftly as they knew what was at stake.
Then in Feb 2023, the federation hosted the Historic US-Caribbean Roundtable on CBIs at the Park Hyatt. The five Caribbean Prime Ministers, along with US Treasury officials and the Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank met each other to establish an all-new set of principles, governing CBI practices across the region.