PM Drew unveils ambitious plan to transform St Kitts & Nevis into Sustainable Island State

St Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew delivered a powerful speech on Thursday outlining his administration’s efforts to transform St Kitts and Nevis into a sustainable island nation.

He said that one of the major aspects of following this vision was to lessen the country’s dependence on the Citizenship by Investment Programme because it is vulnerable to international politics and scrutiny.

PM Drew noted that when his administration took office two years ago, the Citizenship by Investment Programme contributed 60 to 70 percent of the country’s federal revenue, implying that the island was overly dependent on the CBI. 

Reforms made to the CBI Programme

To address this challenge, the Prime Minister said that his government has implemented significant reforms to the CBI Programme. He said that St Kitts and Nevis was on the brink of losing that precious visa free access, but it was because his government took bold steps and immediate actions, that they did not lose that privilege.

In 2022, PM Terrance Drew emphasised that his administration initiated full investigation into the CBI programme and received their first report  in October, 2022 following which the government began a comprehensive review of the regulations.

It was in December 1, 2022 that he travelled to Dubai which is the epicentre of the global investment migration industry to announce major reforms to St Kitts and Nevis’ CBI Programme under the title of ‘Sustainability and Good Governance.’

The Prime Minister highlighted that by December 23, 2022, he enacted new CBI regulations into law, marking a major milestone. The reforms included the introduction of Board of Governors to oversee CIU operations, executing a Technical Committee to review files, and for the first time in 40 years, criminalising underselling practices.

“We also made it clear to the world that St Kitts and Nevis would lead by example in raising CBI standards,” outlined Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew. 

He continued to say that they did not stop there and in February 2023, the Federation hosted the first ever US-Caribbean Roundtable on CBIs at the Park Hyatt.

This meeting was attended by the Prime Ministers of Five OECS nations offering CBI, along with US Treasury officials and the Governor of the ECCB who established a new set of principles governing CBI practices across the region.

This meeting yielding several results which included standardised treatment of denials, additional checks through Financial Intelligence Units, mandatory interviews during due diligence, independent audits of CBI units, retrieval of cancelled passports as well as the suspension of Russian and Belarussian applicants. It was noted that these six principles were put into practice by all CBI operating OECS states. 

Not only this, but St Kitts and Nevis once again made history by becoming the first country to increase the minimum investment threshold to US$250,000. This showed the world that the island nation is on the right path and has become a leader in curbing the practice of underselling of Citizenship by Investment Programmes.

After talking about these major reforms, PM Drew noted, “The Saint Kitts and Nevis CBI programme has been saved,” adding that not only they have re established it as a leading CBI Programme in the world but has also set a new standard of regional cooperation with the OECS colleagues. 

Moving forward, the Kittitian leader highlighted that recently in March 2024, he signed a historic Memorandum of Agreement with the CBI 5 countries to ensure that the new reforms are being followed by everyone, making CBI in the region ethical and sustainable.

While highlighting the numbers, Dr Drew stated that up to September this year, CBI has generated EC$218 million less revenue to date as compared to previous years and this decline is anticipated as a result of the major reforms and market adjustments made over the last two years to save the programme in the long run. 

Sustainable Island State Agenda 

The Prime Minister then shed light on the Sustainable Island State Agenda which he said is an economic pivot of hope and opportunity. He also said that he aims to drive St Kitts and Nevis’ dependency from CBI to SEED - Sustainable Economic Expansion and Diversification pillars  of the Sustainable Island State Agenda.

Over the next two to three years, he said that country will witness an economic boom across several sectors including tourism, construction, agriculture and sustainability. He further highlighted the various transformative projects to be developed in St Kitts and Nevis in the near future under this agenda.

These included the new JNF Climate Smart Hospital, new Basseterre High School, Smart Homes initiative, 2 million gallon per day Basseterre Desalination Plant, Needsmust Power Plant Expansion, Geothermal Energy, Reinvigoration of Kittitian Hill, Christophe Harbour Redevelopment and Prime Creative Arts Center.

While calling all these projects as ‘critical,’ the Prime Minister mentioned that these represent this government’s resolute commitment to improving the lives of every individual in St Kitts and Nevis.

He then called on the people of St Kitts and Nevis to join hands towards fulfilling this agenda and said that the government cannot do it alone, it needs everyone to commit to diligent work and productivity in order to embrace innovation and entrepreneurship.