VI looking to tap into African business market - Hon Wheatley
"One of the things that Premier [Andrew A. Fahie] has dedicated himself to doing is trying to diversify the economy as much as possible, so we're not only diversifying our economy but diversifying or markets in the same. So coming up in the next few days we will be travelling with the IFC [International Finance Centre] and we are going to be doing an exploratory mission to Africa," Hon Wheatley said on Tuesday, October 8, 2019.
Huge Potential in Africa
The Minister was at the time speaking on public radio, ZBVI 780am with Claude O. Skelton-Cline on the 'Honestly Speaking' show.
"The African market is a huge market, basically untapped by us," he pointed out while noting that the Virgin Islands will explore all avenues to tap into the continent's business sector.
"We are big in international finance, but we mainly deal with the European and North American markets, and we are saying to ourselves why don't we just look a little wider afield... what about Africa? Africa is doing a tremendous amount of business that we could be getting a piece of that pie."
Rebranded from the BVI International Finance Centre in 2005, BVI Finance is the voice of the Virgin Islands’ financial services industry; marketing and promoting its products and services, as well as managing its reputation as an offshore financial centre.
Business Tourism
Further, according to Hon Wheatley, starting with South Africa, the plan is to meet with business leaders in the country to bring awareness to the services being offered by the Virgin Islands.
"One of the things we are also trying to do is to create business tourism. We want folks to understand [that] not only is the BVI a good place to do business but a great place to also visit," he said.
"That's why you see we're doing so much work keeping our environment pristine, doing the beach policy," Hon Wheatley noted.
Over the years, the VI has established itself as the leading provider of offshore financial services through business-friendly regulatory regime and environment. The territory has also maintained a heightened presence at conferences and trade events in core and emerging markets.
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Premier Dr D Orlando Smith
The British Virgin Islands is expanding its financial services reach by embarking on a two-week trade mission to Africa in November.
Minister responsible for finance, Premier Dr D Orlando Smith will be leading a local delegation across three African nations – South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
While visiting those countries, the BVI delegation will participate in a number of high-level meetings with officials in African governments and in the African private sector.
Three mini-conferences are to be held in the South African city of Cape Town, the Kenyan capital Nairobi, and also in Lagos, Nigeria.
Citing a study from London-based consultancy firm Capital Economics, Interim Executive Director of BVI Finance Lorna Smith said the visit is to “further strengthen the profile of the BVI in Africa”.
“The release of the Capital Economics report highlighted that the BVI has been doing considerable business on the continent. Nigeria alone has had the largest foreign direct investment stock from the BVI, standing at US$2.9 billion,” she said.
“There is, therefore, good business to be done and this visit will once again allow government and the private sector to work together in driving the growth of our industry in these challenging times.”
The trade mission to Africa will run from November 5 to 16.
If you guys are not talking and listening the voice of the real masters, (US), you are going to pussyfoot around, waste away what little we have in the kittie and next election become One-Timers. Who de heck like being a one timer ?