CABINET NOTES: The Cabinet expressed disappointment that, despite, a number of products and investment opportunities have been proposed to the public no serious interests have been received.
The Cabinet remarked that these opportunities were earmarked for local investors with all attendant concessions.
The concern about the unwillingness to take up these investment opportunities may be a manifestation of a highly investment risk averse culture.
Several initiatives has been proposed over the last 10 years, the most notable being the Fort James development plan (developed, circulated and presented at a public meeting at the Multipurpose Centre), the Willoughby Bay development project, the Shell Beach development and the Morris Bay resort development.
An investment symposium is being proposed to bring stakeholders and potential investors together in a forum to discuss investment in Antigua and Barbuda.
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How about fixing the roads first….then investors especially external ones, might take more interest?
Folks who want to invest you deny them the investment, waste their time, have them wait for listens for months and years, still waiting. You treat black Antiguans and Barbudans like nothing. That is why no Antiguan and Barbuda wants to risk investing while ABLP is the government. They are heartless and selfish that will tell you i cannot help you and ignore your basic request for help to open your office, when you are asking for basic help like can you please let a cop and commission make decisions timely and on the merit because these things must be submitted to a US government agency to show that I am now well-positioned to turn my idea into an existing and operating endeavor, giving me additional access to billions of dollars of funds from crime, abuse and terrorism victim funds, to employ workers, and expand my current businesses. It is ABLP’S fault people are not interested. They are not good people. You cannot get basic help from them. But their networth increase substantially yearly.
The PM knows Antiguans and Barbudans are Risk Averse. And above all they do not trust their government. The only investment they trust from government are the government bonds sold on the RGSM. Garanteed by the ECCB and tradable. Unless you put those investments in a Initial Public Offering with investment instruments sold on the RSM you will not get buy-in from the local community. Unless you are a private risk taker and developer you do not want to invest in any Air BNB property or real-estate. And in order not to have one big investor owning the entire project you need to sell the investment instrument in small tranches. People must be guaranteed that they can take their savings on which they get 2% the most and by instruments (secured) that will give them 5 to 10% return. We need to find ways to get our money out of the banks and into the economy. Why is this so difficult to understand. Some years ago I tested the waters as to how easy/difficult it is to buy government bonds. I called the debt unit and was told to call Bank of St. Lucia. Well I can tell they have no interest there to sell you anything. The bureaucracy is killing. The private selling the Government did with it shares of WIOC was an example of how not to do it. They try to ensure that only local people got to register to buy and that is fine. But you circumvent the entire process if why the Security Market was setup. Perhaps the government should incorporate a private investment company backed by NAMCO’s Assets. The board should therefore have more private individuals participating. We need Venture Capital Companies that NAMCO could back as well. Investment Vehicles need to be tradable or being liquidate in short time. The scare like we have seem with the Global Bank not being able to pay-out a depositors are all part of why people will not trust their government. If I smell a rat or are in need of cash I should be able to liquidate a.s.a.p. Albeit with some loss of capital.
Based on how some of these international investments are treated, why would locals who have worked hard for their money wish to invest? You people were just threatening to confiscate the property of Sandals, a multi-billion dollar company. How will you treat us locals?
Look at yourself, don’t blame us, man.
@Less We Forget Although we all hide behind our names, so I do not know your expertise, I can tell that you know what you’re saying because this is 100% the truth and a potential solution.
Who the hell wants to invest in anything that is not a sure thing? This Government cannot be trusted, period, so what little money people have to invest, they will ride the tide until this untrustworthy administration leave office.
How many times have you heard @my way of helping, complain about his efforts to invest and was shut down?
I myself have a little investment in Antigua, and I have to watch it like a hawk so that I don’t loose everything. No one wants to do anything with most governments, and certainly not this one with its track record in all min of shady deal after shady deal.
Why would anyone wants to go into any form of agreement with individuals who are not transparent?
Look at the Alpha Nero conundrum, look at the Antigua Airways foolishness, look at the Air Peace terrible 70/30 deal, and the list is endless. Why would anyone wants to do any deals with that kind of track record?
Again, this government needs to go, only then you would see the lights start shining again in this dark place. If this government cannot get the simple things done, why would you trust them with your hard earned money?
They are so blinded by greed, that they couldn’t see that Allen Stanford was a wicked crook, so was the crypto kid and now this Nigerian Air Peace guy.
Run far far from these people when it comes to money folks, their eyes are way longer than yours.
Enough said.
A lack of interest in major projects.Is it because you people want too much lard to grease your hands and pockets.The investors have wisen up to your scams.
Totally agree with your sentiments @ Islanman26. I am holding off in investing any more money into this country whilst this terrible and wasteful government is in charge.
He treats indigenous Antiguans in business with utter contempt. My small business lost over $43,000 dollars when I was abroad at the time when Covid-19 hit and Gaston Browne locked out passport holding Antiguans (including overseas students) like me.
I took a hard financial hit, and sadly had to stop work until the Prime Minister lifted his travel ban on Antiguans.
He didn’t think this through at all, and the consequences were dire for many.
Recovery was very difficult, and I got no compensation from the government at all, and my staff couldn’t work because of the lockdowns – only God knows how I survived and stayed afloat.
When the ABLP is removed from office, then I’m going to reinvest big time again. I can’t wait to do so, but not while Browne has disdain for Antiguans in business.
@brix.
I really don’t understand how people can’t see that this man is not a good finance minister, let alone a good PM.
@Brixtonian November 29, 2024 At 6:48 pm
Brix you know I just cannot resist responding to your stupidity. And I only do this so that other will see.
Brix you make the most stupid remarks I have ever heard. You lost money because of Covid and you blame it on the Prime Minister. The whole word lost money because of Covid.
Who then did you blame the crash of the financial market in 2009? Anyway. Antigua was the trial blazer, being the first country in the Caribbean to open its borders and receive tourist once again. So we closed the county for only three months and your business collapse. Perhaps you are the problem. Brix I have given you stats of economic growth under the UPP and under the ABLP lead by Gaston the Financial Wizzard. Even this year we are posied to be the fastest growing economy in the Caribbean and South America except for Guyana. Which we all know has it newly found black gold. Every investor knows that the best time to invest is when the economy is doing good. And good is has been year after year since 2014 except for the Covid Year. 2020.
Compare to the UPP year when people invested in small rental property for Cricket World Cup, the years thereafter were all disasterous. Negative after Negative growth. A young couple that had just build a new home in 2004 when the UPP came to power had to sell because the husband lost his job and the economy was so bad he couldn’t find anything to do. I felt really sorry for them. But they are allright now. As he has found new job and they are doing well once again. More and more people are takling the change to become an entrepreneur. Year after year carnival fets have been cashing in. With record amount of people attending these fets. The time to invest is now. But of course not for you. At least that is what you want us to believe.
@Islanman26 November 29, 2024 At 9:48 pm
How do you measure whether a Finance Minister is good or bad. Note what I said above. Under the UPP, when Harold Lovell was the Finance Minister, the country’s economy imploded, year after year negative growth. And large un-employent. Debt to GDP ratio was 104.
Under Gaston Browne the country’s economy expanded year after year, except for the Covid year 2020. The Debt to GDP now stand at as low as 60%. And un-employement is at its lowest ever. In fact we have to now bring in skilled labour to assist us with the labour shortage experienced in the constrruction sector.
And being a good Prime Minister, well the entire world is at his feet when he speaks at any international forum. Infact he is the face of the fight for Climate Justice for SIDS and he ios traveling now the The Hague, The Netherland to testify in the landmark case brought against the polutors of the sea. Of which they already won the legal opinion.
But a King has no honor in his own country. That is fine. Cause all politics is LOCAL. And that is all what you guys are playing. But while the dogs barks, the wagon moves on to the Next Level of Development.