ST. KITTS AND NEVIS GOVERNMENT WELCOMES FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 23, 2019 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – St. Kitts and Nevis, as a small island developing state with limited capital resources, will continue to welcome foreign direct investment and investors to participate in the development of the country.

That position was expressed by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, who noted that, “If we are to advance as speedily as we would wish and as comprehensively as we would want, we would need to have foreign direct investment.”

Notwithstanding, Prime Minister Harris said the Government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis must be mindful of the type of investments they would welcome into the country. He noted that events over the last two weeks reminded the nation of the need to be careful in the type of investors we attract.

“We want a foreign investor coming to St. Kitts and Nevis to have an understanding of who we are as a people, that we are in fact attempting to construct and develop an ennobling civilization; that our people are proud and free and so we will not countenance investors who come and believe that their money gives them a pass into our lives, gives them a pass to insult our national pride, our leaders, our people and our institutions of state, and so that would be some of the major conditions that would determine who would be especially welcomed to participate in our country,” Dr. Harris expressed today, Thursday, May 23, in a nationally televised interview.

Over the past two weeks, Kittitians and Nevisians were dismayed by the deplorable public behaviour of international investors, Alkiviades “Alki” David and Chase Ergen, also known as Charles Edwards.

Both men, who are known associates of Opposition Leader, Dr. Denzil Douglas, came to St. Kitts and Nevis with the intention of capitalizing on the planned medical cannabis industry, but instead drew the ire of thousands of nationals for their lack of respect for the country’s leadership, the Office of the Prime Minister as well as the culture and customs of the people of the Federation.

Prime Minister Harris added, “As we pursue development, challenging as it is, we have to draw a line in the sand in terms of the persons who will come because many may come but not all would have good intentions.”

Dr. Harris said the ideal investor his Government would wholeheartedly welcome to St. Kitts and Nevis “must fit into the ethos of our country and our people; they have to be respectful of our culture, our values and our institutions.”