Walywn sees opportunity with Economic Substance Requirement
He gave his views while addressing a NDP January 18, 2019, rally held at the Sunny Caribee Parking lot, where it was the night for the four At-Large Candidates to address the Territory.
No Secret
According to Hon Walwyn, “…this new EU measure can have some negative effects in the short term but if handled well, can provide a more resilient financial services sector in the Territory in the long term.”
He said it’s no secret, the Territory is experiencing some challenges with the Financial Services sector—brought on by a ever changing goal post in the international community.
The NDP Leader reminded supporters, “It is now a requirement for the BVI to have what is called economic substance in the territory this simply means that companies incorporated in the Virgin islands must have a physical presence in the territory.”
According to Walwyn, it important for the Territory to capitalize on this new challenge, “but more importantly, it present greater opportunity for the people of these Virgin Islands (VI)….It gives us the perfect occasion to implement the recommendations for the Mackenzie Report of 2014, as it relates to adding value to our offerings.”
Difficult Road
He had prefaced his arguments insisting that that Virgin Islanders need to lead the main industries in the territory.
“It time for us to just do it,” Hon Walwyn said as he implored the people of the Territory, be ready to chart their own destiny leading the main industries domestically.
According to Hon Walwyn, “…the road will be difficult, the journey uncertain at times but the time has come for us to do the work and simply get things done.”
He said that while the disasters of 2017 placed the people of the Territory in a very difficult position but they have also presented a distinct opportunity.
“An opportunity for us to collectively come together to develop a VI of our own making, a VI with Economic resources to build a modern Territory and a VI with a Human Resources and intellectual capital to take us into the future and master the unknown.”
National Security
The NDP, he said, caters for all the people of the Territory, “…we see a Territory that provides for all of its people, one that is on the cutting edge of technology, one that gives our people a chance to develop new industries, share our culture with the rest of the world and one where each person has a fair opportunity and access to the services they need to live a good and wholesome life.”
The NDP Leader used the opportunity to take a swipe at shoddy internet service providers in the Territory calling the travesty a ‘national security issue.’
“I see high speed, reliable internet access as a national security issue for the new VI, as it is inextricably linked to the economic success of a modern day VI and it should not be left up to three private carriers to determine our rise or fall.”
As such Hon Walwyn was adamant, “this new NDP government will take the lead on this because it’s too important an issue for us not to.”
Stifle Goals
He said, “if we continue to leave something as important as the internet solely in the hands of private providers, to give our country affordable and easy access to the worldwide web, we stifle our very own long term goals for the Financial Services industry and any hope of benefiting from the economic substance requirement opportunities,”
With the large gathering strongly on his side, he added, “we cannot be afraid to engage in this new space, but we must do so with the people of the VI playing a major role in this industry, and significantly, with a government that believes so much in its people, that we are willing to invest in the infrastructure required for high speed internet."
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10 Responses to “Walywn sees opportunity with Economic Substance Requirement ”
Only a very few of the companies incorporated here have any intention of establish any economic substance in the BVI - and those that want to are struggling because the BVI does not have sufficient office space nor sufficient qualified staff. Economic substance requires qualified competent staff, not people who merely print out, file and scan documents.
We need alternative sources of income for the Govt - fishing and farming are simply not going to cut it - we are going to have to free up land ownership and start letting foreign investment into land.