WASHINGTON, DC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr. Godwin Friday, is urging nationals residing in the United States to invest in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country saying that them that his administration has described them as preferred investors.
Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday (center) with members of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines diaspora in the United States (CMC Photo)Friday, who had travelled to Washington to attend the annual International Monetary Fund (IMF)/World Bank annual meetings that ended over the last weekend, told a meet and greet session of his New Democratic Party’s (NDP) government’s vision for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
He said that the vision is focused on the four pillars of the economy, namely agriculture, tourism, the blue economy (fishing, marina, etc.) and the new economy (culture, arts, digital economy, etc.).
“To do this, however, we need all kinds of partners. So we have said, in keeping with the philosophy of our party, that we are open for business,” said Friday.
“That doesn’t mean that anybody can come and take advantage of us, because our eyes are wide open. We have some very skilled, experienced people who can make sound judgments about people who come for us. We can separate the charlatans from the real thing,” the prime minister said.
“But we need partners for that investment. This is where our diaspora. You who have so much experience,” said Friday, who is also the Minister of Finance, Legal Affairs and Justice, Economic Planning, and Private Sector development.
“You have probably more money than me and Fitz,” he said, referring to Dwight Fitzgerald Bramble, his minister of foreign affairs, foreign trade, foreign investment, and diaspora affairs, who also spoke at the event.
“If you don’t have it, you have friends, you have people who have these things that they can put together. So, you start thinking, ‘Maybe this is something that we can get going in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We can invest in tourism.
“Sometimes, you see that people who are not from St. Vincent, they may come and invest, and then our people come and they say, ‘Well, how come these people doing this and so forth?’ And they feel these people taking over, and somebody from somewhere else, but you come and do it,” Friday told the members of the diaspora, adding “you have a natural advantage. We have said, Fitz has told you, we are reaching out to our diaspora in a structured way …
“We have now put a structure in place to make sure that there are channels and definite mechanisms that you can use to engage with us in order to get investments going in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“You are our preferred investors. Take that one in. So, let’s form this partnership together. And there are so many things we can do. There are so many areas of the economy that there’s potential for investment,” Prime Minister Friday said.
He said there are many areas of the economy that have potential for investment, adding, “It is only sustainable if you can make money doing it.
“We are going to cut red tape, we are going to make things easier for you to do business. This is why he’s in charge of Invest SVG, and is putting together a plan to accelerate those types of investment that we need for the country,” Friday said, referring to Kevin Hope, the government’s ambassador for finance, climate and investment.
He said there are investment opportunities in tourism, infrastructure, the fishing industry, small businesses, and digital businesses.
“Don’t limit ourselves by what we are used to in our past. I say to the people, young people, about agriculture, you’re thinking about agriculture in the way that your grandparents used to practice it. There are other ways in which you can do it.
“There are sciences that we can put there to make them more productive and find markets internally and within the region. These are very exciting times.”
Friday said that in Washington, his delegation has been reaching out to the international institutions.
“For me, it’s been a learning experience, because it’s my first trip on a meeting of this sort,” he said, adding that the meetings were “more like speed dating, because you go from one meeting to the next, and you’re constantly going … And so that’s what we do.”
He, however, said that they went to Washington to work.
“So long as there is an opportunity for me to engage with anyone who has a possibility, a potential, to be a partner in this recovery process that we have in mind for our country, I will put myself forward to be able to do it,” the Prime Minister added.
