UPP dismisses the country’s CIP ranking as “meaningless”

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UPP Public Relations Officer Senator Damani Tabor

United Progressive Party (UPP) senator and spokesman, Damani Tabor said the Citizen by Investment Programme (CIP) in Antigua and Barbuda has been a failure despite being ranked number one in the Caribbean recently.
Tabor said enough has not been done by the Antigua Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) to drive investments under the CIP. He added that the CIP has failed many businesses including those in tourism.
He compared the CIP in St. Kitts to the programme in Antigua and Barbuda, stating that too much emphasis was placed on getting applicants whose investment was only monetary, going directly into the National Development Fund (NDF).
Tabor said that if the CIP in St. Kitts were to collapse, the investments made under the programme will still “continue to employ people and generate revenue.”
He pointed out that the Marriott Hotel was built in St. Kitts by four investors under the real estate investment option of the CIP, while there has been no success in Antigua producing “lasting investment and economic activity.”
The CIP in Antigua and Barbuda was ranked number one in the Caribbean by the Global Residence and Citizenship Programmes 2017-2018 report, and number four out of eight countries across the globe that offer the programme.
The ranking was done by Henley & Partners residence and citizenship planning company, and its report was made public this month.
Tabor said there is no reason to celebrate the score of 61 percent with first place in the Caribbean and fourth in the world. He noted that this was still a very low score and said that the country may never recover from the “reputational harm” suffered due to the CIP.
“I think the major fallout that the average person is concerned about is that they no longer have visa- free access to Canada.
(More in today’s Daily Observer)

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