Barbados ‘greenfield hub’ for clean, tech-driven industry

Barbados is positioning itself as a greenfield hub for clean, technology-driven industrial investment as European economies decarbonise, with government-backed agencies pushing IP-led growth and tax incentives to attract investment, said the chief executive of the country’s industrial promotion agency.

Chief Executive Officer of Export Barbados, Mark Hill, told Barbados TODAY that the country has been marketing itself as a secure, digital and data‑driven environment for manufacturers and innovators.

He said the agency has shifted its focus from primarily manufacturing and physical production to intellectual property, ensuring creators feel confident that their ideas are protected.

Hill said: “It’s not just making things, it’s how you’re making and what you’re making so people feel confident producing products regardless of what it is, in a space where the ideas are not going to be stolen.”

“The only pathway to do that legally is through intellectual property.”

The newly established Business Barbados is now recalibrating to prioritise intellectual property, he added.

“Small business, big business, medium-sized business, the intellectual property is the core and the heart of your business. That is the first asset that you have, and then that asset attracts the other investments.”

Speaking at the sixth annual UK Trade Mission to Barbados Business Forum on Tuesday, he revealed that with the launch of Patent Box, investors are able to get a reduction in tax if they manufacture in Barbados.

He explained: “Once you bring your IP to Barbados, and you’re manufacturing from Barbados, you can get a reduction of your tax from the nine per cent down to 4.5 per cent, so what that means is that once you’re producing IP here, you’re scaling IP here, you’re developing IP here, you actually have one of the best economic systems or frameworks, even better than Malta, even better than the EU once you’re earning below 750 million dollars per year; we are the best on planet Earth for intellectual property based IP tax systems.”

He announced that the plan is to generate an economic impact of 15 per cent over the next ten years.

“We’re looking to generate over the next few years through this IP thrust, and putting the infrastructure around intellectual property is moving our contribution of industry to GDP from currently around five to ten per cent to 20 to 25 per cent.”

Export Barbados recently signed a letter of intent with a company that will bring about 300 molecules to Barbados to protect them.

Hill stated that intellectual capital is the first thing a business needs to secure, which is why Export Barbados launched its GIGA programme.

GIGA is an Export Barbados initiative to foster sustainable, high‑tech industrial growth and boost exports. The programme aims to transform the economy by focusing on advanced technology and green industries, positioning the country as a leader in regional innovation.

“Really helping people to value and appreciate the importance of intellectual property and how that is linked right back into industry and industrialisation.”

As “brownfields” — land that has been previously developed — European countries are going through a massive decarbonisation process after more than 250 years of industrialisation. They are now turning to “greenfield” — underdeveloped land — to invest.

Hill said: “Africa and the Caribbean only have 70 years. So basically, we become what you call greenfield. So the investment in a brownfield system, dismantling that and rebuilding that to make it more modern, is extremely expensive, so it is easier for investors to shift to greenfield sites and build from scratch. So Barbados has kind of positioned itself as one of those greenfield sites.”

This has led to a major shift towards the green industrial gateway as European companies, pharmaceutical and other producers, are looking for more affordable options.

“Where you make things on planet Earth today, it doesn’t matter; it’s how you make it. And therefore, we’re making sure that we are leaders in how things get made. So robotics, automation, IP, cybersecurity, these are the key building blocks now for industrialisation; it’s not sweat shops and bodies and rooms. It’s really now data that is driving how things are made.”

Investors are now being invited to help build the types of systems they want here in Barbados, he said.

“We’re in a place where our data security is being ramped up, and they can come in and build these kinds of data systems that they want within the island.”

“So Barbados can become that industrial off‑grid system that your IP secured. It has the necessary cybersecurity framework. It has access to the technologies that you need. So you can ramp up really quick in Barbados. And this is the advantage that we have now.”

(LG)