#BTEditorial – Going after the young and wealthy

When one is in charge, whether it be a political administration, a general manager, or a senior supervisor on the production line, it is expected that a few barbs will come your way.

For obvious reasons – the buck stops with the man or woman who makes the final decisions. He or she is expected to guide the team and ensure there are few, if any, weak links.

And so, despite the overwhelming victory at the recently concluded general election, in which the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was returned to office with a record clean sweep of all the electoral seats, no one expects that it will be smooth sailing for the administration.

For some time, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has spotlighted the issues of Barbados’ increasingly ageing population and the implications this is likely to have to the country’s social safety net, Government’s tax policies, and economic planning.

One of the more controversial issues linked to the changing demographic, was the impact it will have on Barbados’ immigration policy.

In her last Budget, the Prime Minister again drew attention to the issue. We should not forget that the problems associated with an expanding elderly population and the country’s anaemic birth rate, were highlighted by a former minister in the Freundel Stuart administration.

Granted, the former Minister of Education Mr Ronald Jones, was not famed for elegant speeches. He urged Barbadian women to simply have more babies. It was his clumsy way of reminding the country that it needed to regenerate itself or the society will face very serious consequences.

But as we seek to address the numerous challenges confronting our society and economy, the administration appears to be preparing to take another stab at confronting the touchy issue of immigration reform.

It  clearly seeks a quicker solution than waiting for the births of thousands of babies by Barbadian women, most of whom seem largely disinterested  in having many children. Most women consider possibly one child, if any at all.

Opposition forces have accused Government of using the highly successful Welcome Stamp Visa programme as a pre-emptive step toward implementation of a citizenship by investment (CBI) programme.

The 12-month Welcome Stamp Visa has been a win-win for Barbados. It created a new revenue stream from the programme’s fees, built out the long-stay market at a time when the tourism sector lost much ground due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while also jumpstarting the lethargic real estate and second-home market.

One the other hand, the CBI programme operated by several countries in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is facing headwinds  and the conflict in Ukraine, ignited by the Russian invasion, has only complicated the situation.

If our Government is considering a CBI programme, as some in the private sector have lobbied, we contend that now may not be the best time to implement such an initiative.

Just recently, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonsalves cautioned that the United States of America and the European Union were pursuing regulatory amendments that would bar the holders of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) passports through the CBI programmes, from accessing the visa waivers that ordinary citizens enjoy.

The Barbados passport is deemed the strongest in the Caribbean because of the number of countries to which Barbadians can travel without many of the hassles faced by citizens of other countries.

And so, were we to offer a CBI programme, we suspect that it would be the most financially successful one in the Caribbean. Barbados has so much going for it that the sale of citizenship would be a gold mine.

But unfortunately, the US has indicated it will decline visas to the holders of CBI passports many of whom come from countries in Asia, the Middle East.  Wealthy citizens of Nigeria and Russia, find them very attractive.

“If you buy your passport, buy your citizenship, the Americans have taken a decision administratively not to give you any visa.”

Gonsalves, who has not favoured CBI programmes, said a resolution passed in the European Parliament has directed the European Commission to ban what are termed “golden passports”.

Countries like Antigua, St Kitts, Grenada, Dominica, and St Lucia will have until 2025 to either abolish the sale of passports and citizenship or face the introduction of visas to enter the EU for all their citizens.

At a time when our economies are under severe stress from the pandemic, weather events, high debt,  and several obstacles to trade, CBI has been a valuable tool to generate vital foreign exchange and foreign direct investment.

If we in Barbados are going to pursue high net-worth individuals and more young professionals to choose Barbados, and who can boost our citizenship deficit while also contributing to the treasury, Government will need a creative, nuanced strategy to achieve its goals.