Prime Minister Godwin Friday says St. Vincent and the Grenadines intends to introduce a revised citizenship-by-investment (CBI) programme, with stronger due diligence, central oversight and coordination across the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
He told St. Kitts and Nevis-based journalist Andre Huie on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Thailand that Kingstown will push ahead with the programme despite “headwinds”
“It’s a perennial topic now that there are headwinds against citizenship by investment programmes, there are challenges and so forth,” Friday said, noting that the programme exists in other countries.
“Argentina has just announced that it has embarked on a programme,” said Friday, whose New DEMocratic Party (NDP) promised to introduce the programme during the campaign for the general election that brought the party to office in November.
“There are countries in Europe that are doing so, and the region continues,” he said.
“We understand that there are opportunities available. We understand the concerns that are raised by whether it’s the European Union or other countries, and so forth regarding these programmes.
“And we are seeking to address those in a responsible way, so that the benefits can still be had from the programme while addressing these concerns that have been raised,” the Vincentian leader said.
Friday’s comments show that his government remains committed to introducing CBI in SVG even as the European Union in June asked the five Caribbean countries with CBI programmes — Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia — to end their programmes by June 2028 or risk losing visa-free access to the EU.
In July, the leaders of five Caribbean countries operating CBI programmes agreed on a joint response to the EU proposal, agreeing to continue engaging with the European Union through diplomatic dialogue rather than accepting the proposal.
The countries agreed to send a joint high-level delegation to Brussels to meet with representatives of the European Commission, the European Council, and the European External Action Service as well as meeting with officials from individual EU member states.
Friday said both the opportunities and concerns presented by CBI are valid.
“Both are valid, and so yes, we intend to proceed with a similar type programme, not a citizenship-by-investment programme in the old sense, but one that requires much more due diligence, much more management from the centre, that is from our unit, one that is coordinated within the OECS, so that the central bank plays a role in monitoring,” Friday said.
He said he believes that “with these safeguards and with the adjustments that are made and continued conversations with the EU and other countries that have raised objections that we can proceed and do something that benefits all of us”.
Friday said that his government is thinking of introducing a CBI programme during the first quarter of 2027, saying, “… time is of the essence, and we are working very hard.
“We have a consultancy that is essentially putting the thing together and designing it based on making the adjustments for the things that I raised with you just now and that other countries, the objections that they may have raised and the concerns coming from various quarters, that those are addressed.
“And this is something that I know that my colleagues in the OECS, those who all have programmes, are actively considering, and they are making adjustments.”
He noted that the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank is part of the efforts.
“So I believe that with goodwill, both sides, that is to say, those who are objecting and those who are executing these programmes, that we can come to a productive resolution … of this matter.”