UPDATE: Govt announces Elise Donovan to head Asia Office
Government made the announcement via a press release today, November 1, 2013. It said the appointment of Ms Donovan as Director of the BVI House Asia, the BVI’s Asia Pacific regional office, will be effective January 2014.
“As we continue to deepen our commercial footprint in Asia, Ms. Donovan will play a crucial role in promoting the BVI business in Asia-Pacific and in supporting the financial services industry and its growth in the region,” the press release quoted Premier Dr. the Hon. D. Orlando Smith as saying.
Ms Donovan will take over the post from the current interim director Mrs Lorna Smith. As the new Director, Ms Donovan will promote BVI’s financial services, represent the BVI in a diplomatic setting, uphold BVI’s voice with the region’s government authorities, strengthen economic and political cooperation regionally and internationally, and build cultural and educational links in the Asia-Pacific.
Ms Donovan has a wealth of experience in international affairs, international political economies, diplomacy and public relations. She has worked in the BVI Government and the BVI Financial Services Commission. Ms Donovan is currently the Executive Director of the BVI International Finance Centre, where she is responsible for promoting and marketing the BVI financial services industry globally.
Ms Donovan holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Carleton University, Ottawa and Columbia University, New York.
See previous article posted October 10, 2013
Elise Donovan tipped to head Hong Kong Office!
-No announcement made to date by the Dr. D. Orlando Smith Administration amid controversy over wife heading office
The Virgin Islands’ newest real estate in the Asia/Pacific Region, the BVI Hong Kong Office, is expected to have its new head soon.
According to well placed sources within the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) Government, the current Executive Director of the Virgin Islands International Finance Centre, Elise Donovan, has been tipped for the job.
The source also claimed that Ms Donovan was short listed as two other potential candidates declined the offer. To date, no official announcement has been made by the NDP Administration.
It also remains unclear when Ms Donovan, who is trained in International relations, will take up the post and the terms and conditions of her new assignment.
BVI House in Asia
It was September 5, 2013 when the BVI House Asia was launched by Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable D. Orlando Smith.
This is the first office in Asia, in what the government described as an effort to “boost ties with emerging markets in financial services and tourism”.
The office, which is being called BVI House Asia, is located in Central Plaza, one of Hong Kong’s tallest office towers in the Wan Chai district, blocks from the Hong Kong Island Star Ferry terminal.
This is now the second Virgin Islands representative office in a key international location. The first was opened more than 10 years ago in London under the now Opposition Virgin Islands Party Government of Honourable Ralph T. O’Neal OBE.
Cost to Tax payers- $800,000 annually to operate
While to date the public has not heard of the true cost to operate the BVI House Asia, Minister of Finance Hon. Smith told reporters at a press conference earlier last month that it could cost tax payers around eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000) a year.
"I know that the London office for example cost about $800,000 per year and I am sure that the Hong Kong office may probably be in the same range,” Premier Smith said. However, he failed to give a figure on how much it cost for the set up of the Asia Office.
Controversy over Premier’s wife as interim Director of BVI House Asia
One of the negatives that have taken the headline from the importance of the BVI House Asia was the issue of the appointment of Mrs Lorna Smith OBE, as the interim Director of the Office in Asia.
Critics claimed the interim appointment was a conflict of interest and that there were other persons who should have been given a chance to use their talents. Mrs Smith, the wife of Premier Dr. Smith, is a retired civil servant who now runs her own consultancy firm.
It appears that the Premier took the criticism to heart and, in an interview with a local radio station, blasted the media and claimed to be troubled that the media made that his wife was heading the Asia office part of the headline when the focus should have been the opening of the Hong Kong office.
According to Premier Smith, “I was very disappointed and troubled that on the occasion of the establishment of a very significant activity in the Asia Pacific region to our financial services, the headline on the opening of the office on the online media read, Lorna Smith is interim director of Hong Kong office," he said.
The headline in question was carried by the pro-government online news site, BVI Platinum News, and another online news site BVI News Online.
Under public and private pressure over the appointment, Premier Smith announced last month at a press conference that his wife Lorna will be wrapping up her assignment as the interim Director in the coming months.
It appears, according to this news site’s many sources within the Administration, that Elise Donovan is expected to take over the post from Mrs Smith in the coming months.
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51 Responses to “UPDATE: Govt announces Elise Donovan to head Asia Office”
People must be placed in position because they have the discipline to become qualified and the skills and cognitive ability to process how to manage problems, and execute the agenda.
Maybe you can tell us why this office was opened? What is its function? How wasting $800k a year on it helps our economy & benefits us?
Another waste of money and placing our cronies in positions to continue to embarrass us.
The reality is that office is dysfunctional with a bunch of persons who are clueless. Nobody can head that place because they do not have a functional team to move any agenda forward.
Wake up people they are going to shut down that division
People, many if not the majority of our so called offshore companies (BVIBCs) on the Register at the Companies Registry, Pasea Estate are owned by Asians including Chinese. Hong Kong belongs to China.
These companies must pay an annual license fee to remain on the Register which brings millions of dollars of revenue to the BVI Treasury.
Do you see why having such a presence in the region would benefit the BVI? It's not about the so called small man. It's about the BVI. I am sick of hearing about this small man nonsense. Our so called small men need to educate themselves so they can get jobs that would satisfy their life style. Small man my foot. The VIP Government created this culture of begging by the so call small man.
Stop proving yourself to be ignorant. if you can keep making statements about VIP Government creating beggers then your truly just an @$$. and before you open your mouth, I WAS an NDP supporter.