Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7), has sold the Virgin Islands as a superconnector in an interview with India Business Law Journal during the Virgin Islands-India Trade Mission and Road Show in India in August 2026. Photo: India Business Law Journal

(L-R) India Business Law Journal's Manokamana, Premier and Minister of Finance, Dr the Hon Natalio D. Wheatley (R7) and Junior Minister for Financial Services, Hon Lorna G. Smith, OBE (AL). Photo: Office of the Premier

Premier Wheatley and Junior Minister for Financial Services, Hon Lorna G. Smith, OBE (AL), sat down with the Indian publication, Manokamana, at the start of the trade mission. “We have an ecosystem of financial services professionals who are second to none, and the BVI, we consider ourselves to be a super connector; we have over three hundred and seventy thousand business companies.”

The Virgin Islands, Premier Wheatley added, has been in the financial services business for over forty years and is therefore a well-respected and well-regulated jurisdiction. “With easy-to-use structures and professionals that can make the Indian businesses’ lives very easy, to be able to internationalise Indian business, and to attract foreign direct investment into India.”

Proven & tested products

Premier Wheatley added that the Virgin Islands presents itself as a “strategic partner” as India aspires to achieve its Developed Country status by 2047.  

“We see it as a very valuable partnership for India and also mutually beneficial to the BVI.”

“Our products have been proven and tested over the past forty years or so…and we believe that our BVI products and our BVI business can assist in achieving that goal primarily by driving foreign direct investment into India, primarily through our investment funds regime.”

The Virgin Islands, Premier Wheatley added, is home to a quarter of the world’s hedge funds and the second largest financial centre for fund formation and domicile at a highly competitive cost. 

The India Business Law article and accompanying video were published on September 1, 2026.