The head of the citizenship by investment unit of St Kitts and Nevis, Michael Martin, highlighted that the Sustainable Growth Fund, commonly known as the Fund Option, is designed to enhance the development of the country and its people during an Exclusive Luncheon held on March 6, 2023, at Taj Dubai Hotel, Burj Khalifa Street, Business Bay Dubai.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources, Cooperatives, entrepreneurship, and Creative Economy for St Kitts and Nevis, Samal Duggins, also accompanied Martin to the event in Dubai, UAE. The event attracted several HNWIs and various agents linked with the CBI industry.
In his address, the head of CIU stated that the Sustainable Growth Fund is designed to enhance the development of the country and its people. All these funds will go towards establishing schools and medical facilities, new enterprises in technology and so forth.
“So it is a very important option in our citizenship by investment program, which we hope that intelligent investors will take advantage of; it is an investment opportunity that provides the ability to invest in a stable democracy with good infrastructure and highly educated people, and so we encourage our agents to market that option and ensure that we can have a win-win situation as far as St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship by investment is concerned,” added Michael Martin.
He said that all the investment options under St Kitts and Nevis’ CBI Programme are designed to attract investors every time as there is something in the program for everyone. Martin added that he is focusing on ensuring that the longest and most respected programme in the industry brings investments which mutually benefit the people of St Kitts and Nevis and the investors.
The CIU head added that the investors have the added bonus of becoming a citizen of a progressive country, which is something for Indians and all kinds of investors. He said there is a real estate option, sustainable growth fund option, and public benefit option, and investors can decide which option best suits them for gaining citizenship.
Martin also stressed the reasons behind making regulatory changes to the Citizenship by Investment programme of St Kitts and Nevis. He said that whether it is any programme or any business, one must continually evolve to keep in touch with the latest times, which is why the CBI unit decided to enhance the program by introducing new regulations.
Michael Martin said to make sure that the programme continues to attract premium investors, the CBI unit is continually working to improve it, and so these regulations are designed to do just that, and the regulations are not written in stone, which is why they are continually evolving.
“Evidence of that comes from the fact that only in December did we publish new regulations. And by February, we have made some changes. So we’ll continue to look at the regulations,” added the CIU head.
Recently, the CBI Unit introduced the limited-time offer on the Sustainable Growth Fund applicable from January 1 2023, to June 30 2023, which was also highlighted by Michael Martin during the Exclusive Luncheon event in Dubai. He said that the offer had been designed to benefit business people around the globe, and under this offer, the investment amount has been reduced to USD 125,000 from USD 150,000 for a single applicant. Notably, the investor can be awarded alternative citizenship in just 60 days without any additional cost.
Furthermore, the head of the citizenship by investment unit said that it has been very hectic to hear work every day, but it is not a problem for him as earlier also he has run large organisations such as financial services, insurance companies, bonds etc. but currently he is focusing on taking the CBI program to the next level of sustainability, next level of producing for the country and for the people of enterprises which will continue to generate revenue and benefits for a very long time.
While outlining the significance of the relationship between St Kitts and Nevis and the United Arab Emirates, Michael Martin said, “The relationship between St Kitts and Nevis and the UAE is very important. The UAE is considered to be a small country. We are even smaller. You probably would have some difficulty finding us on the map, but we are always inspired by what is happening in the UAE and the vision that created the UAE and continues to develop new age.”
He said that in relation to that, the CBI unit offers opportunities for investment to residents and citizens of the UAE to take part in the development of our country and for that, St Kitts and Nevis also has an ambassador in UAE who focuses on the unit’s intention to improve and continue to grow relations with the UAE.
“So, we look forward to enhancing what we already have in terms of the relationship between us and the UAE, and we look forward to seeing some investment coming out of the UAE that would be mutually beneficial. As I said, our CBI program is about creating win-win situations. It’s not just a one-way street, it’s a two-way street, and we encourage investors from the UAE to come and have a look at our country and take advantage of the many opportunities that are there for investment,” added the head of CBI unit of St Kitts and Nevis.
Notably, Minister Samal Duggins said that the Sustainable Growth Fund is benefitting all the ministries he is concerned about as the country has the oldest citizenship by investment programme and added, “SGF is one of the innovative ways that we thought to drive economic development, especially as it related to the social empowerment of all people.”
