Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, speaking to reporters during a press conference in the Committee Room at Parliament today. (S. Forde-Craigg/BGIS)
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds, says the giving of concessions, such as land, to international organisations setting up offices on the island is nothing new, citing historical precedents with other international organisations.
Mr. Symmonds was seeking to correct the “misconceptions” circulating in the media and across the island during a press conference in the Committee Room at Parliament today.
He explained that the approximately two hectares of land at Jemmotts Lane, St. Michael, where the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) African Trade Centre is to be constructed, was given as part of the concessions agreed upon between the Government of Barbados and Afreximbank.
The Minister noted that with concessions, one must look at what is being received. “You don’t just give concessions on an airy-fairy basis,” he said.
He pointed out that similar land concessions or land lease agreements were entered into with other organisations with offices here over the years, as a means of “attracting” them. Some international organisations mentioned include the Caribbean Development Bank, Caribbean Examinations Council, United Nations, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, Interpol, and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture.
“There is tremendous precedent. There is a practice in this business, and there’s really no need for us now to try to create a false impression that this is something new. Governments of Barbados, throughout the years, have been doing this type of thing in order to attract headquarters to the country, in order to be able to make sure that there are agencies in Barbados, which are significant, …which are capable of attracting business to this country, which help lift our international reputation, and that, in turn, helps to promote investment into Barbados and more commercial activity and employment for our people,” Mr. Symmonds stated.
He continued: “I believe that there are some genuine misunderstandings of what is involved here, and it is really important to bring some clarity. Let us be clear, around the world, headquarters agreements are prized possessions. There is no country that does not seek to accumulate as many headquarters arrangements as possible because it brings significant diplomatic prestige; it brings economic activity, and so, therefore, it is vital above and beyond the diplomatic benefits….
“So, I want to underscore the reason why we treat these matters as being exceptionally important. It is a very highly competitive area…. To make ourselves competitive, countries around the world, just like Barbados, enter into what might be called concessionary discussions, but at a basic level, there must be privileges and immunities for some of these institutions and entities. We are no different, so we have a system of privileges which we give to those people who are working here, quasi diplomatic nature in some cases, and also immunities from certain requirements in other cases, that is part of the incentive to business.”
Minister Symmonds also stated that the Afreximbank state-of-the-art project includes a $300 million headquarters, a trade centre for business development, and a hotel. These initiatives, he said, are expected to create employment, boost the economy, and offer a foreign exchange component.
“The Trade Centre is largely about business development in Barbados. It is about technical firms having a hub; it is about small and medium enterprise development; it is about digital services development for this country, so it is functioning largely as an incubator for businesses of that type. And I don’t think that anyone will seriously argue that those types of services and facilities are not only important for Barbados, but that Barbados now can become a host for the region in that regard,” he stressed.
In addition to the financial benefits, Mr. Symmonds explained why it is important to make connections between Barbados and the African continent.
“There is a link which the Government is trying to build with the African Union and the entire African continent…. It was relevant before for heritage reasons; it was relevant before for diversification reasons – diversification of economic opportunity, diversification of what we see as tourism potential. But it becomes all the more relevant now, in a world in which, as we have all seen, those economies of the North are less welcoming and are demonstrating a substantially less degree of interest in the well-being of the small island developing states, such as ours here in the Caribbean,” the Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister stated.
Source: https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/concessions-to-international-organisations-nothing-new/
Author: Sheena Forde-Craigg
