“We have set a very ambitious vision for our country and that is to transform Antigua and Barbuda into an economic powerhouse of the Caribbean. But we cannot do it alone. We need to engage various stakeholders throughout the globe.”

Since you took office in June 2014, you have been working very hard at increasing transparency, diversifying the economy, creating a more conducive business environment, and attracting investment to Antigua and Barbuda to lead the country back to a robust economic health and prosperity. Could you please tell us about your main policy goals ? What have been your biggest accomplishments since you took office 1.5 years ago?

Our first job was to stabilize the country’s economy. We inherited a broke and broken economy. So stabilization of the economy was our top priority. We had a contracting economy, it was decimated under the previous government and we lost 25% of the country’s GDP. 10,000 people out of work in a workforce of 40,000, which is a unemployment rate of 25%. We had a lot of delinquent debts – things were so dyer that we even defaulted on the repayment of the IMF loan. Chinese loans were also delinquent so we immediately had to get them up to date because it would have jeopardized the airport that we were just finishing and it would have jeopardized future funding for projects like the port expansion.

We started at a time when the country could not meet its obligations, pensions were late, we didn’t have enough funds for socioeconomic development. Within days of taking office we moved very quickly to stabilize the country’s economy and we have been very successful.

We have been able to increase revenues, control expenditure and at the same time services a number of debts that were delinquent. We brought most of them up to date and we have kept them up to date for well over a year now. There are still organizations that we have brought subscriptions up to date on like USAID. But we brought the IMF loan and the Chinese loans up to date and we created 1,500 jobs in our first year in office.

 Our priorities are to attract investment and increase tourism traffic. We set a very impressive vision for the country and that is to transform Antigua and Barbuda into an economic powerhouse of the Caribbean.

Notwithstanding the challenges and difficulties that I just mentioned – we have the attributes and we have the individuals with the skills and the commitment to do so. We know that the way to do it is to increase trade and investment into the country. Antigua and Barbuda is a small country with a very small capital formation and not sufficient to fund any substantial development. We need fresh money, we need to attract capital to the country and in order to do that we need to bring in investment into tourism.

The 2014 World Bank – Ease of Doing Business Report named Antigua and Barbuda 71 of 189 countries, but 3^rd in the Caribbean after St. Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.  You and your administration share the vision to become an economic powerhouse in the Eastern Caribbean. What does this mean to you and what needs to be done to achieve your goal?

One of our biggest accomplishments is that we have been successful at attracting over USD $3 billion in investment pledges, and we are talking about premium investment. Robert De Niro, James Packard, Yida Investment Group, Sunwing, a Sheikh from Dubai building a high-end hotel. Just recently a wealthy investor from the Middle East bought two small private islands for development – Eden Island and Pelican Island. The investment prospects for the country are very good.

When we took office the country had seen an 11% reduction in tourism arrivals. We moved within months to sweep the St. John’s Harbour where the cruise ships are accommodated because there was a risk we were going to lose the cruise ship business since the port had filled up and it posed a risk to the operators. So we quickly had to come up with a creative solution to get the financing to sweep the port and keep the cruise ships otherwise we would have seen a substantial decline in tourist arrivals.

We were in decline and after 1.5 years we are now seeing a 3% growth in the economy.

Given what we have inherited a contracting economy with a growing debt burden, and especially compared to other neighboring countries that are registering negative growth, I think it is a very good performance. What we have seen in the country is 3% of real growth.

My government has been tackling challenges and resolving them, and by doing so creating opportunities for the people of Antigua and Barbuda. In the last 18 months we have created a platform for robust growth and economic development and we are now on track to become the fastest growing economy in the region and maybe the Americas.

Yida International is developing a USD $2 billion tourism development on Guiana Island. Robert De Niro, your Special Economic Envoy, and developer James Packard are investing USD $250 million tourism project on Barbuda that will restore what was previously the K Club into a luxury resort there with a marina for super-yachts, a casino and private airport. These developments will bring much needed investment dollars and create jobs on less popular islands, and be a major boost to the overall tourism offer of Antigua and Barbuda – not to mentioned the many real estate projects like Pearns Point for vacation homes. Could you please tell us more about these development projects and what they mean for Antigua and Barbuda?  

When we came into office the majority of Barbudans were only working 3 days a week. We worked hard and we worked fast and we got commitment from Robert De Niro and James Packard to build the luxury Paradise Found development which will include a hotel and an airport. At one point I felt that De Niro and Packard were wavering because of obstructions, so we took decisive action because this investment was important for our people. Now we expect by June 2016 that Paradise Found they will be breaking ground in Barbuda.

We are taking a position that we need to press forward and make sure these projects happen so we can grow and expand the economy and create opportunities. My government is working relentlessly to make sure we are creating opportunities for our people. We want to make sure that Barbudans can have the same standard of living as everybody else in the world. We are creating opportunities for good sustainable employment for our citizens so they can enjoy good living standards.

Our government is very nimble – in the efforts to attract foreign investors. We aren’t waiting for investors to come to us. When we find interest we will go to them whether they are in Europe, China, South America – we will go and find them.

We have been very assertive in attracting investors. As much as we are counting on stimulating domestic investment, which is very critical, we know that domestic growth just won’t cut it – we need fresh money, new investments, a transfer of skills. Our assertiveness has been successful as you can see by the investment pled gets that we have had in a very short period of time. We will see tangible results in only a few short years.

To ensure economic stability, it is important to diversify the economy into other sectors. The Private Sector Assessment Review stated that your most promising areas are health & education, renewable energy, ICT and agro-processing. Where do you see the greatest opportunities for growth and job creation and what kind of partnerships are you looking for?

 We are seeking to diversify the country’s economy. We have invested USD $20 million to introduce 10megawatt (MW) of power, and today I have been told that 3MW installation just beside the VC Bird Airport is now operational. Our ambition is to make Antigua and Barbuda green, especially since we are more susceptible to climate change as an island nation. We have another 2MW solar project planned for Barbuda and we would like to make Barbuda totally run on green, renewable energy.

Tourism is still the most lucrative sector and it still represents our biggest potential for economic growth. We have significant competence and experience in tourism and our policy is to optimize opportunities in tourism and at the same time diversify the economy. Tourism still contributes about 80% of our GDP and we expect it to continue to drive growth and development.

 We are expecting a 20% increase in tourists this year – considering we were down 11% we have filled the gap and then some, we will see a marginal improvement and based on booking for 2016 it is going to be a record year for arrivals to Antigua and Barbuda. We are now in talks with Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart to open a Beaches here.

Financial services, gaming, fisheries… In fact, the Blue Economy is one of the most unexploited areas. We have maybe more than 100 times the amount of sea to land because we have a relatively large economic zone that stretches 200 miles into the ocean. We need to do more in fisheries.

We are using the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) as a platform to diversify into other sectors and to help finance new projects. For instance, we have entered into an agreement with Aspen Systems and Lockheed Martin to establish a deep sea aquaculture facility where we can raise the larger sea species for domestic use.

CIP is raising the capital for that project an if it works, it has potential to create and industry that will be able to contribute no less than USD $50 million year.   Lockheed Martin is seeking to commercialize this technology and we are seeking to diversify into aqua-culture.

We are also planning to use CIP contributions for the production of films and are working with Rudy Langley, a successful producer from Los Angeles, to create a motion picture industry here in Antigua and Barbuda.

There are also opportunities in agriculture and agro-processing. We are having discussions to increase agricultural production not necessarily for export, but we are seeking to do so from the standpoint of food security and the opportunity to save on foreign exchange and also to create linkages between what we produce and the tourism industry.

We are looking for private sector investment to get a poultry farm because we want to develop our own poultry. It is a good investment opportunity because we import a great deal of poultry. I think that it would be an ideal situation to set up a partnership for financing.

Finally, we are looking into building up our offshore financial services. We are fully compliant and will remain fully compliant. My government is very, very serious about corporate governance. As Prime Minister I do not get involved in any form of contracting. We evaluate projects to make sure we get value for money and the proper systems are in place. The general consensus is that anything over USD $20,000 has to be tendered.

I am not flexible when it comes to integrity. I would rather be a citizen of a successful country than to Prime Minister of a failed state.

Financing sustainable development is a challenge for any country especially Small Island Developing States like Antigua and Barbuda with small populations, little resources, no economies of scale, expensive access for trade, etc. You are advocating for greater access to conditional funding. What kind of challenges do you face in financing growth and development that the world should understand and what changes need to be implemented to support your countries development goals?

SIDS does not have any natural resources to export like oil or precious metals. We are dependent on tourists coming to the country and investors bringing investment into the country. We are trying to build capacity to expand and grow the country’s economy. We use our human resources to grow.

However, there are certain realities that you cannot escape as a SIDC that has structural economic problems of not having enough resources to fund development. It means therefore that developed countries must continue to support smaller countries to build capacity to grow and develop so the can expand develop and growth. Larger countries like the USA need to help small countries like Antigua and Barbuda to build capacity to grow and develop to expand their economies. We live in a symbiotic world – the interests of the USA are the same as the interest of Antigua and Barbuda. The resources of the planet need to be utilized for the benefit of all mankind and not just a privileged few.

Climate change, one of the biggest threats facing mankind, cannot be achieved by the bigger countries themselves. They have a natural obligation to assist, to protect our common humanity understanding that if the people in Antigua and Barbuda cannot live, they become desperate, and that creates global problems like terrorism. We need to make sure everybody can live. If we can build capacity, we can trade more and have an expanding economy and can enjoy greater prosperity. It is not a zero sum game.

We presented some creative proposals to Venezuelan President Maduro including Antigua and Barbuda Oil Company, the only energy distribution company in the country which was owned privately. My government purchased it, not because we had money, but because we were able to acquire it without using a dollar from our treasury. Today we own 51% and we sold 24% to an entity from Hong Kong and 25% to Venezuela. It has now been transformed into a sub-regional petrol distribution facility. These are the type of collaborations we would like to see.

We have seen great south-south corporation. Those in the north may be underestimating the resolve of the countries of the south. They ought to be more responsive, more accommodating. Venezuela and China have been very helpful and we are very grateful. We see the need of cooperation between developed and developing countries as an investment in humanity

In 2014 Antigua and Barbuda became one of the top destinations for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Last year the Antigua Special Economic Zone Act was signed and now the Nansha Economic Free Trade Zone will enter into the stage of plan and implementation. Can you tell us what projects are in pipeline, and what people can expect for 2016?

What we are trying to do is to position Antigua and Barbuda in the international global value chain. We don’t have the resources to compete with China, but we do believe that we can add value to products. We are at natural disadvantage as we don’t have any resources to sell that is intrinsic to the country so we have to be creative. For instance, Chinese companies can come and domicile here in Antigua and Barbuda and then can export from here where we can add value and create opportunities for employment, trade, and grow our economy exponentially. The special economic zones will incentivize them to localize where we can add our piece to the value chain and where they can enjoy low tax concessions. We are not a no-tax, but a low tax regime so we are not considered a tax haven.

We are about to invest about USD $118 million to expand the port including USD $97 million from the Chinese government which will start next year. Today, I signed my first authorization with Yida, effective immediately, to create a special investment zone for global companies. If a company wants to domicile here, they are operating offshore but contributing to our revenues and our economy. It is not new concept, but it is new in the region and are embracing it. We want Antigua and Barbuda to be a beacon of progress and prosperity within the region.

The Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment Program is one of the most successful in the world earning USD $60 million in 2014. Recently you have made important changes to the Citizenship by Investment Program, implementing recommendation that reduce the requirements and make the investments more attractive. You are hoping to increase that to USD $ 10 million a month. Could you please tell us about the importance of CIP to the country, and how the recommendations will make it even more attractive for investors and what investment options exist for applicants?

Acquisition of citizenship under the National Development Fund (NDF) investment option requires a contribution to the NDF in the minimum sum of US$ 200,000 per application. The contribution is in the form of a one-time payment. In fact 75% of the contributions made in the first 16 months were towards the NDF. We have not had a lot of new properties developed in the last years so the investment into real estate wasn’t significant. Real estate has contributed only about 20% so far.

We had such an unstable economy, we needed some quick funds, so these quick funds were able to pay our debts, salaries and wages and fund our short term obligations. The Citizenship by Investment Program in Antigua and Barbuda is fairly new and we have been able to growth CIP contributions from USD $1 million a month to about USD $5 million month in 1.5 years. Now we are aiming to generate revenues of USD $10 million a month and have implemented recommendations to make our CIP program even more attractive.

CIP is targeting wealthy individuals: millionaires, billionaires, individual that will help create a natural pool of investment that we can tap into. We have welcomed people from Australia, South America, the United States, Asia including Hong Kong. We have had many non-CIP investors as well like Tory Birch who just bought a USD $17 million dollar home in Antigua, We have in the Caribbean, the highest number of high net-worth individuals per capita.

What is it about Antigua and Barbuda that draws such people?

Antigua and Barbuda is quickly becoming the best country in the world to live and people can come and be part of lifestyle not just as a tourist but as a citizen. Now is a good time because you can buy at a discount. We know that we will see significant increases in the real estate in the near future.

We are investing in road works, beautifying the country and are committed to building 500 homes. But in reality we will build 1,000 over the next 3 years. We have 365 of the best beaches in the world, 27 degrees on average with a clean and pristine environment with one of the lowest levels of homicide and crime in the world. We embrace individuals of all cultures, nationalities, religions, ethnicities, political affiliation and sexuality. Life in Antigua and Barbuda is becoming significantly better and we want to share that.

Honorable Prime Minister Browne, how do you want to be remembered as a Prime Minister?  

I wanted to be remembered as a Prime Minister who worked relentlessly for the people of Antigua and Barbuda and the development of the country.

Thank you so much for meeting with me Prime Minister Browne.

Thank you.