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VI should have diversified economy earlier rather than later- Lisa Penn-Lettsome
"We've lost 30 Million dollars, and whether it was intended or not, the implication that all of a sudden we are losing money because of one reason or the other... it always excludes to my amazement, the simple mathematical reality. We have been climbing in figures from 1988, there's only so many users in the world for corporate structures. They had to have come a time where these numbers would plateau," she said on public radio ZBVI 780am.
Mrs Penn-Lettsome, who serves as the Government’s Chief Technical and Policy Advisor on International Business and Financial Services was at the time discussing the future of the Territory's financial sector on the February 18, 2020, episode of the 'Honestly Speaking' radio show.
Diversification came too late
"What BVI needed to do was perhaps diversify earlier, rather than later... its something we have to accept, we started looking at diversification much too late," she said.
According to the Director, while Economic Substance may sound like a negative, the Government is using the opportunity to encourage it through legal compliance, which would provide opportunities for Virgin Islanders.
"We are going to try to turn that into a positive, and also we did try to diversify earlier on with the Arbitration Centre, we are trying to make BVI a centre for arbitration resolution."
Arbitration & Tourism
Mrs Penn-Lettsome said an arbitration centre can be coupled with tourism, as individuals tend to choose jurisdictions not only based on proximity and quality but on the prospects of the jurisdiction as a destination.
"Arbitrations, you're not going to knock it out in one or two days, you're probably going to be around for a week or ten days so people tend to like to... bring their families and turn it into a family vacation."
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6 Responses to “VI should have diversified economy earlier rather than later- Lisa Penn-Lettsome”
The reality is that the VI has some structural disadvantages and characteristics, ie, small size, vulnerability to natural disasters, resource-poor......etc that place it an economic disadvantage that prevents economies of scale, hindering its sustainable development. The VI is resource-poor; it lacks natural resources, forestry, precious metals, essential minerals......etc. It lacks the natural resources to create to create either a primary (fishing, forestry, agriculture, mining) or secondary economy ( light manufacturing). Its strong suite is services. Its primary resource is its people followed by the sea. These two resources are the oxygen, the fuel that will drive the economic engine. Thus, it has to effectively invest in and on human capital(knowledge-based economy) and exploit the sea for its economic benefit.
Moreover, in diversifying the economy, the territory needs a voter-approved national development plan. A short-, medium and long-term plan should be developed and taken to the voters for a)approval and b)disapproval. Once the plan is approved, any major change(s) should go back to the voters for action.
no point in us throwing shade at the hard headed politicians no at this pt