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Industry Minister Donville Inniss in conversation with CEO of the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation, Dr. Leroy McClean during today’s Family Business workshop at the Cave Hill School of Business.??(A. Miller/BGIS)????

Barbados is open for business!

And, Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, has emphatically stated that he wants to continue to let the world know that Barbados remains "a first rate country" to conduct business and its track record "speaks for itself".

Speaking to media this morning after the opening of a Family Business workshop at the Cave Hill School of Business, Mr. Inniss made reference to Barbados being a low tax treaty based jurisdiction. He added that the island’s stable economy and willingness to work with its partners to ensure that the country continued to benefit from this sector, as primary reasons why we should consider ourselves a force to be reckoned with when it comes to conducting international business.

"In respect to the international business sector, yes we go out there and we work hard to attract new businesses to Barbados. At the same time, we must place greater emphasis on helping to maintain those that are here.?? There are several international business companies that are actually starting to expand [and] while they may not be hiring in large numbers here, they are certainly getting into new markets – they are increasing their revenues and doing well," he noted.

The Minister explained that over the next couple of months, his Ministry along with a team of officers and other agencies from within the public sector would be working a lot closer with those businesses that were already here.

"Once you are here and you are settled you are likely to expand from Barbados. You are likely to go out there and preach the good news about Barbados and you are less likely to pack up and move.

"There are other jurisdictions that may offer a lower tax rate but they do not offer the quality of life and the stability that Barbados offers and that is why we are not seeing any mass exodus of international companies from Barbados to other jurisdictions.?? I think there has been a lot of stability here…"

Stating that every week new entities made requests to be licensed under the various pieces of legislation that his Ministry, the Central Bank of Barbados and the Financial Services Commission administers, Mr. Inniss said that Barbados remains buoyant despite the current economic challenges.

"It is quite evident that the challenges continue. There is undoubtedly more and more pressure being applied every month by various stakeholders primarily in developed countries, but our approach to that is to continue to engage in constructive dialogue to ensure that Barbados continues to benefit from this sector," he charged.

theresa.blackman@barbados.gov.bb

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