We welcome the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr the Honorable Timothy Harris, to discuss what the St Kitts and Nevis Platinum Brand means for his country and the investors who choose it as their destination for second citizenship.
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00:00Hello, everyone, and welcome to this Gulf News webinar in association with CS Global Partners.
00:06And we'll be focusing once again on citizenship by investment, and this time in the beautiful
00:12jewel island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. It has beautiful mountains and beaches
00:18and is a huge attraction for tourists. I'm your moderator for today. My name is Emma Brain. I'm
00:23a British presenter and reporter, and I've been working across media platforms in the UAE since
00:292003. So let's dive straight into today's topic for today. St. Kitts and Nevis is the smallest
00:37sovereign state in the Western Hemisphere with a population of just 53,000 people. The island's
00:44citizenship by investment program is the oldest in the world, and it's been running for 37 years
00:49and is extremely attractive for people seeking a second citizenship by investment and offers
00:55huge benefits for you and your family. And today, it's my absolute pleasure to be talking to the
01:01prime minister of the Caribbean nation, Dr. The Honorable Timothy Harris, and also Mr. Les Kahn,
01:08CEO of St. Kitts and Nevis CBI program. Good afternoon to you both. I know it's very early
01:14in the morning there, so thank you so much for joining us today. Good afternoon and thank you
01:20for having us. It is just after 8 in the morning. It's breakfast time, but we are happy to be here.
01:27I'm super happy to have you both. And now, Prime Minister, if I can come to you for the first half
01:33of this session. Now, St. Kitts and Nevis was the first country to establish citizenship by
01:39investment as an option for international investors to gain a second citizenship. Does
01:45this legacy still have an impact on the program today? Thank you for that question, and we are very
01:52proud that some 37 years ago, those before us, our leaders, had the vision to determine that there was
02:01a need for an alternative pathway if the smallest sovereign state in the world was going to be able
02:08to fend for itself and advance. 37 years after, the answer is yes. The legacy still lives. We are
02:17proud at this time to be considered internationally to have the oldest and the best citizenship by
02:24investment program. 37 years after, we have the longest experience in management of CBI program.
02:3437 years after, we have adjusted our legislative framework to ensure that it is stronger than ever
02:42before. And with 37 years of experience, we have been able to engage investors far and wide into
02:51the attractiveness of St. Kitts and Nevis so that we boast among the Caribbean islands of having the
02:57largest number of branded hotel properties such as Four Seasons, such as Park Hyatt, such as Marriott
03:05that have been financed by this project. And so, the answer then is that we have a reputation to defend
03:13and we have a reputation to protect. And the government is committed to continue to be a very
03:20responsible member of the international community, one in which all states can count on to ensure
03:27that those who come to our program are the most discerning of investors who could appreciate
03:34not just the extraordinary beauty of my beloved country of St. Kitts and Nevis but our great
03:41capacity to continue to grow and develop. So, we are very satisfied at this time to have the best
03:49program and we commit going forward to continue to provide competent and reliable service. We
03:56commit that we will be always the most innovative program available and, of course, we value the
04:05trust that we have developed over all these years with our clients, with governments far and near.
04:11We value that very highly and so we will continue to be a reliable member of the international
04:18community. And it looks absolutely beautiful, Prime Minister, and I was reading it is, you know,
04:25one of the top, if not the not, the not the top citizen programship in the world. Now, the St.
04:31Kitts and Nevis program is premised on the notion with an investment in the Federation, an application
04:38can receive citizenship and live and work in the country. In a post-COVID-19 world, what are the
04:46greatest incentives for foreign investors there? Well, I think there are many. At this particular
04:53time of uncertainty, I believe investors are looking not just at acquiring citizenship,
05:00but acquiring it in a country which is peaceful, which has strong rule of law, and which is growing
05:08or has that capacity. St. Kitts and Nevis, of course, has that and this is not just my saying it.
05:16Internationally, there is what is called the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index,
05:22and among our peers in the Eastern Caribbean, we have been consistently the best performer
05:30year after year, which is an indication that the rule of law is strong, property rights are
05:36respected, our judiciary is working, and working well. So, an investor need not be concerned about
05:46the reliability of his investment, his ability to move the profits, the gains, etc. All those
05:54things are facilitated under our rubric of law and order. We also have one of the most successful
06:02democracies. We were one of the first countries in the world that have had to face a general
06:10election in the context of COVID-19. Our success as managing general elections in those very
06:18difficult times, again, shows that we are a country with tremendous respect for rule of law,
06:25for democracy, and of course, we are an example. Another important index, in my view,
06:32is the United Nations Quality of Life Index. You compare us to countries large and small,
06:40St. Kitts, again, is among the top performers in quality of life. Whether it is education,
06:47health care, per capita income, we are among the best performers within the region.
06:52Within the entire hemisphere, we are in the top five. Within our own OECS, we are number one.
06:59Within the wider Caribbean region, we are again top of the class. So, I believe we bring
07:05predictability to investment, we bring the protection of property rights, and we bring
07:11a democracy in which people can come, bring their family, and be an active participant
07:18in the socio-economic life of our country. That certainty in an age now of uncertainty,
07:25in an age where there are difficulties in some countries regarding government excesses,
07:31I think St. Kitts and Nevis now is like a gem. And I would want to encourage all those
07:37who are thinking about investment, think not just about citizenship, think of a vibrant country,
07:44one such as St. Kitts and Nevis, in which, you know, your returns will go tremendously.
07:50Absolutely fantastic. And of course, the quality of life is key for so many of us,
07:55and so many advantages there for people. How has the Citizenship by Investment Programme
08:01impacted life there on St. Kitts and Nevis?
08:06It has been a godsend, and that is why every day we thank those who had the vision
08:12to introduce it some 30 odd years ago. When in 2005 we were faced with the challenge of closing
08:22an industry, the sugar industry that had been with us for some 366 years, everyone asked,
08:30asked us what would happen, what will we depend upon? We were producing sugar which we export to
08:38the European Union and to other countries. With the vicissitudes within that industry,
08:44the highly competitive nature, the high cost, it had become clear to us that given our smallness,
08:51we could not compete with the larger countries of the world, in Africa, in Asia, wherever they are,
08:58and that the cost of doing that business was too high. We closed the industry in 2005,
09:06and we therefore began to look, rather than at merchandise, to tourism and services as the answer
09:14to sustain a good quality of life for our people. We have been able to make that transformation.
09:21Through the CBI, we have been able to harness resources so that we can retrain the population.
09:28Through the CBI programme, we have been able to bring large hotels to St. Kitts and Nevis,
09:34like the Marriott, like the Four Seasons, like Park Hyatt, and those have created good paying jobs
09:42for our citizens in St. Kitts and Nevis. And other properties such as Ramada, such as Koi,
09:49have now shown significant interest in St. Kitts and Nevis. So, helping us cross a difficult period
09:57of closure of one major industry, which headed towards the largest foreign exchange earner
10:04and largest employer, to a new industry, that position has been made easier as a result of the
10:12CBI programme. And as we continue to build out, for example, non-sugar agriculture,
10:19and vegetables, it is the resources which we hope to secure to the CBI that is making a difference.
10:27And largely, social development, investment in education, investment, for example, in healthcare
10:35in the context of COVID, which we always have now, to be strengthening. It is the resources
10:41that we were able to save from the CBI programme that allow us to respond so early and properly,
10:49and to provide a social safety net to those of our citizens who were put out of work. Thousands of
10:56them, here and across the region and the world, had become jobless and without an income. We were
11:04able to go into our savings, which had largely come from our putting aside some of the inflows
11:11from the CBI to now keep our country on an even keel. So, yes, it has been very much impactful.
11:20Sports development on the island of Nevis has been impacted by resources from this particular
11:27project. We were able to build a second gooseberry here in St. Kitts. We have over 1 million
11:35goose visitors over the last two years. We felt that this investment was needed,
11:41and this particular project was financed completely, 100 percent, by domestic resources,
11:48and the CBI provided a significant portion of that investment. So, the diversification of the economy,
11:56the provision of social safety nets, all those have been made possible and made easier
12:03because of the resources from our CBI programme. Absolutely incredible, and it's wonderful to hear
12:10that, and it truly is a testament to your leadership and what you're doing there,
12:15Prime Minister, as well. And hopefully, you know, when global travel is opened up again,
12:22we can all go there and visit you because you've got some incredible brands investing
12:26and coming to your country, and it sounds absolutely wonderful. With our large readership
12:32here in the UAE and, indeed, the greater Middle East, we can't fail to ask about St. Kitts and
12:38Nevis' current and future relationship with this region. What is your vision in that respect?
12:46Well, we want to consolidate that. It's an important region for our Citizenship
12:51by Investment programme. It's also an important region in terms of its own advancement and growth
12:58and its model, and so we look to that for examples of what is possible, some of what is possible,
13:06and we are applicable to adopt them in the context of St. Kitts and Nevis. As a result of our CBI,
13:12we have a large number, thousands of our citizens who are resident in the UAE and so on,
13:20Saudi Arabia, elsewhere in the Middle East and so on, all over the world. Therefore,
13:25we will always have an interest there, and what we want is to make St. Kitts and Nevis
13:30an attractive destination for them to come home to St. Kitts and Nevis, to contribute more,
13:37to be part of life here, experience a different life than they would have there in the Middle
13:44East or anywhere else in the world. Our calm, our serenity, our natural beauty,
13:50all of these things in the era of COVID have taken on prominence. The ability to be out in the sun,
13:57to get the tropical breeze for all its therapeutic impact on our health, all those now are lowering
14:05attributes for any country and St. Kitts offered those in high measure. Significantly, we were the
14:13first country in the Caribbean to have established a consulate in Abu Dhabi. We did that early and
14:21we are hoping to move to an embassy in the not too distant future. We have reached out to several
14:28other countries there that have significant interest now in being more of a global player
14:36and we are continuing the dialogue and conversation at the government level, but importantly at the
14:43people-to-people level. So, we have participated in international games in the Middle East and so on,
14:50flying the flag of St. Kitts and Nevis, beautiful as it is, but sending a message, though small,
14:56we can do and we are able to do that which any other sovereign state can.
15:03Absolutely incredible. Thank you so much. It sounds wonderful and we look forward to
15:08incredible future ties here with the UAE and indeed the greater Middle East region. Thank you
15:14so much Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris for your time and sharing thoughts with us
15:20this afternoon. It's been an absolute pleasure to speak to you and wonderful to hear about
15:24the amazing opportunities that are available to people who'd consider investing and moving to your
15:30beautiful country and the fact that it's so family-friendly as well and that the onus is on
15:35family life and welcoming families with lots of benefits is, I'm sure, of great interest
15:42to lots of people and very, very appealing. So, thank you very much for your time this afternoon.
15:47Thank you and an open invitation is extended to you to come visit us.
15:52I definitely will. It's on my list. As soon as I can get there, I'll be making my way over. Thank
15:57you so much. Bless you. And now we come to Mr. Les Kahn, CEO of the St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship
16:06by Investment Program. Good afternoon, Mr. Kahn. How are you? And thank you for joining us this
16:11afternoon. It's my pleasure to be here. Thank you. Now, first of all, the St. Kitts and Nevis
16:18recently introduced a limited-time offer for prospective applicants under the Citizenship
16:24by Investment Program. What's the timeframe and the rationale behind this limited-time offer?
16:30Well, first of all, the limited-time offer is available and started in June of 2020 and will
16:39expire on the 15th of January 2021. The rationale behind it is to ensure that we give everybody
16:49an opportunity during this period of time of COVID and uncertainty. We give families the
16:57opportunity to get citizenship so that they can travel more freely and can be with their loved
17:03ones. In addition, we expect that with individuals applying for citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis,
17:11will also come to St. Kitts and Nevis. And as the Prime Minister so rightly stated,
17:16we want them to come here and visit and contribute to the economy. So, with the limited-time offer
17:23for this period of time, we are giving the opportunity to family members to get in at
17:30the most reasonable price, price line. Okay, fantastic. And what are the investment
17:36requirements under this limited-time offer? And how is it differing from the normal investment
17:42requirements that you would have? Under the limited-time offer, the investment option is
17:48150,000 for a family of four. Now, and this is up to a family of four. So, under the existing
17:57environment, prior limited-time offer, an individual, a single applicant could be at 150,000.
18:04And the spouse will be another 25,000. And then the dependents would be an additional 10,000.
18:13So, generally, a family of four would normally cost about $195,000.
18:19U.S. U.S. dollars. And with the limited-time offer, there is a discount of 45,000.
18:26Now, it is different from the other investment options because we haven't made any adjustments
18:31to any other option. The real estate option stays the same at 200,000 or 400,000.
18:39And those are still available to our clients, and we see a large interest in that. But with
18:45the limited-time offer, we are seeing a lot of applications coming in, and a lot of individuals
18:51from the Middle East taking advantage of this very special offer. I'm sure, because when you kind of
18:57stack it up against other options, it's extremely affordable. And with everything else that you have
19:04to offer as well, and the benefits that you're giving to people wanting to move there for a
19:08second citizenship, why would you not take advantage of this? It's amazing. And this
19:14limited-time offer is best appreciated by families. Which family members can be added
19:20to an application for this Citizenship by Investment Program in St. Kitts and Nevis?
19:27The St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship Program allows for a main applicant, and that main applicant
19:37has to be over the age of 18, then their spouse, and their dependent children. Their dependent
19:45children can be up to the age of 30. In addition, the parents of the main applicant and the spouse
19:53can apply under an application, and the grandparents can also apply. In order to qualify
20:01for the parents, they'll have to be over the age of 55 years. And this was an adjustment that we
20:08made to accommodate and recognize that in the Middle East specifically, there are a lot of
20:15families where the parents take early retirement and now become dependent on the children at a
20:24very early age. So this adjustment was made, and it just reinforces the government's
20:31thoughtfulness in considering such a family venture. And we made this adjustment a while back.
20:40Sounds amazing once again. And Mr. Khan, the CBI Index, a yearly publication by the Financial
20:47Times PWM magazine, was released not so long ago on the 7th of September, and St. Kitts and Nevis
20:55was the only country to receive full scores under the Citizenship Timeline pillar. What do you think
21:02sets St. Kitts and Nevis apart from its competitors in this respect? And it's a great accolade to have.
21:10Well, thank you for recognizing that. And this pillar of timeline is one of five pillars that
21:17we received full points on. The fact that we have the ability to accelerate or process our
21:26applications in the most accelerated manner is based on the fact that we were the first country
21:33to implement an automated system end-to-end from our service providers into the unit,
21:41and it runs 24 by 7. This allows our clients, our service providers, to put in their applications
21:50real-time and for the unit to be able to access it. Now, with this score of 10 points and a full
21:59score, what we have been able to do to achieve this is to be able to offer our clients an
22:08accelerated application process. And we are the only program in the world that offers an
22:13accelerated program. And this is because we have been able to master our process, master the
22:18efficiency with which we expedite these applications. And I would like to emphasize that we
22:28expedite, we process quickly without compromising our due diligence, without compromising the
22:35integrity of our program. I was going to say, and my next question, due diligence is also a
22:42cornerstone of the St. Kitts and Nevis program and indeed is another part of the CBI index
22:48assessment under which the Federation received your full scores. What's involved in the due
22:53diligence process? What happens? The due diligence is the most important part of any
22:59application process. And it begins at the point that a client asks for an agent to represent him
23:10and to put in his application. At that point, that agent, be it in the Middle East or any other part
23:16of the world, will know your customer, will do some research on the background of that client
23:25to ensure that the integrity of that client is one that St. Kitts and Nevis will accept.
23:32In many cases, agents will call to my office directly and will do a pre-scan, would inquire
23:40as to whether we will accept this person or not accept this person. So there's a lot of dialogue
23:45going on with our agents. And this becomes part of why we are so good at what we do, because we
23:52engage with our agents even at that point in time. Once the application is submitted by the agent and
24:02all of the documentation is received, it's sent to a local service provider. And the local service
24:12provider is regulated by our financial risk and control group. So they have to get their licenses
24:20in order to become a local service provider. Once they receive that application, they too
24:26do a due diligence on the applicant, because we want the service provider to be aware of the client
24:34that they have submitted. We don't want the service provider to just be a mailbox. So we
24:41emphasize this and it goes into the enhanced due diligence that we do. Once that's achieved,
24:49the file comes to the unit. And this is where the unit now takes over the whole process
24:54of the application. We then send, after we review all of the documents, ensure that they are valid,
25:02ensure that they're notarized and it's legit. We then send the application information to
25:10an internationally acclaimed due diligence company. And we have about five due diligence
25:16companies around the world who specialize in different regions or different countries.
25:23And we keep a very close tab on them. Once we give it to them, they do media searches,
25:30they do open source searches, and then they put boots on the ground and they send individuals
25:36to do discrete inquiries on the applicant and his family, his employment, any records that
25:46might be public but not published. There are verification on employment, on education,
25:55place of residence. These are things that we get our boots on the ground to submit a report
26:02back to the major due diligence company and they submit a total report, which is not a
26:11recommendation for citizenship. It's just a report that gives us as much detail as possible.
26:16And then we review that. The second part of the due diligence is in sending the same information
26:22to international law enforcement. There's a group in the Caribbean who we send this information to
26:29and they have access to databases from the US, from the EU, from the UK, and from Canada and
26:36other countries. And they then are able to check for links to terrorist activity, terrorist financing,
26:47criminal activity, money laundering, Interpol. These are some of the areas that they will go
26:54into and they will also send a report. When the unit receives both of these reports,
27:01they will do a review and an assessment of the information that has been received
27:07against what the client has submitted to us. And at that point, if everything matches,
27:13then we will make a recommendation for citizenship. So it's a very thorough due
27:20diligence process and one that we know that we excel in and we put as much emphasis in this
27:27process as any other process, in fact more, because we have to ensure that the integrity
27:34of the individuals obtained in citizenship is one of the highest caliber. That's amazing to hear. I
27:40mean the comprehensiveness of it, the strictness of it, because of course the safety and the
27:46security of the country is key. So thank you so much, Mr. Les Khan, CEO of the St. Kitts and
27:53Nevis Citizenship by Investment Program, for all of that information. Absolutely fantastic. And
27:59I think one of the, you know, it's testament to the success of your program, that it's longevity,
28:06you've streamlined the processes, you've made it very easy, there's huge benefits to everyone.
28:12It's absolutely incredible and we say once again thank you so much to the Prime Minister of this
28:17successful Caribbean nation, Dr. the Honorable Timothy Harris as well. And as we wrap up,
28:25we'd like to thank once again CS Global Partners for helping us with this webinar. So Mr. Les
28:32Khan, thank you very much for joining us this afternoon, it's been a pleasure to speak to you.
28:36It's my pleasure, thank you very much. Thank you so much and it's been a pleasure to speak to you
28:41both and to hear about all the opportunities that are available through the CBI program.
28:46And while I'm certain that many of our viewers will already know of the beauty and the warmth
28:52of St. Kitts and Nevis, I'm equally sure that many will have benefited from learning the skill with
28:57which it's faced the COVID-19 crisis and its commitment to health and well-being of all its
29:03residents. With a new wave of COVID-19 looming for many of us, I expect this will be on many
29:09people's minds as they consider where to move next. And equally, the limited time offer Mr.
29:14Khan kindly explained to us comes at exactly the right time for families who want to feel safer
29:21with an uncertain future. Coupled with the CBI program's ability to deliver quick processing,
29:28it presents a unique opportunity for investors to obtain citizenship in a matter, in a manner
29:34that is both a cost and time efficient and effective. Thank you finally to you, our viewers.
29:40I hope this webinar was able to spark not just your imagination, but also your interest in one
29:44of the most exciting solutions for dynamic families available today. And St. Kitts and
29:50Nevis, a beautiful, beautiful country, definitely one to explore and one to check out the CBI
29:57program, that's for sure. Once again, we thank you so much. The Prime Minister,
30:02Dr. The Honorable Timothy Harris, and you, Mr. Les Khan, CEO of the St. Kitts and Nevis
30:07Citizenship by Investment program. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon.
30:13My name is Emma Brain, and we hope to bring you more interesting webinars in the future.