Known for its leadership role in the citizenship by investment industry, the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis is also a regional front-runner in the domain of economic growth.
At a press conference held on 1 February, Prime Minister Dr the Honourable Timothy Harris showcased his nation’s economic performance, observing growth in 2017 and predicting further growth in 2018.
With respect to 2017, the Prime Minister noted a 2.6 percent growth even in the face of an adverse hurricane season, and an overall GDP of EC$1.86 billion. “Growth was impacted positively by a 9 percent expansion in construction services,” he underlined, while agriculture boasted a 14.3 percent growth. Some growth was also recorded in the hotel and financial services sectors.
Three more hotels will break ground in St Kitts
With such a prosperous economic climate, St Kitts and Nevis has set itself apart as a destination for investment and high-end development. In November 2017, Park Hyatt celebrated the opening of its first hotel in the Caribbean, the Part Hyatt St Kitts Christophe Harbour. Next year, said the Prime Minister, three more hotels will break ground in the Federation – with one of them already confirmed as a Ritz-Carlton luxury resort, to open in St Kitts’ Southeast Peninsula in 2021.
“[O]ur country is being excellently managed. Its fiscal house is in order. Property rights are being protected and respected. Workers’ rights are legislatively enshrined, and stability and democracy are alive and well in St Kitts and Nevis,” said the Prime Minister when discussing why investors, including foreign and international ones, had their eye on his twin-island state.
And some investors have had St Kitts and Nevis on their radar for years. The oldest and most trusted jurisdiction for citizenship by investment, St Kitts and Nevis normally offers citizenship in return for either a one-time US$250,000 contribution to the Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation, or for a US$400,000 purchase of pre-approved real estate. For a short time only, it also offers citizenship via a donation to the Hurricane Relief Fund (HRF). The HRF option, open only until 30 March, enables single applicants and families of up to four persons to obtain citizenship in return for US$150,000.
Estimates for 2018 see St Kitts and Nevis’ economy expand at an even higher rate of 3.7 percent; there is no better time to invest in, and perhaps even become a citizen of, St Kitts and Nevis.