PRESS RELEASE
(Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis, April 27, 2020) – The St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party has taken the proactive step of establishing an Economic Recovery Advisory Council (ERAC) that will commence its work immediately. The Terms of Reference of the ERAC outlines the main of objective of the Council as being “to advise the SKNLP and its leadership” on policies and strategies that would:
1) Reconnect and realign the local economy with the global tourism, trade and investments markets at the earliest possible time.
2) Resuscitate and grow the main drivers of the national economy – Tourism, Manufacturing, Construction and Financial and other Services in order to put people back to work as quickly as possible.
3) Identify and invest in opportunities for further economic expansion and diversification based on the new norms and imperatives of the post-COVID environment including inter alia, Agriculture and Food Security; ICT and Digital infrastructure; Comprehensive Primary Health Care and Universal Public Health Insurance and NextGen Education.
4) Guide, channel and monitor foreign direct investment into public sector projects that will generate economic growth and yield exponential development dividends.
5) Facilitate and stimulate bottom-up approaches to small and medium enterprise development in ways that would incentivize and reward our risk-takers and enhance their viability and competiveness and create jobs. 6) Restore the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship By Investment Program to global competitiveness.
7) Create an institutional framework for harnessing the full spectrum of economic benefits that the Diaspora can bring to bear in St. Kitts and Nevis in the areas of remittances; direct Investments; human capital transfers (knowledge, skills, ideas, contacts and technology); philanthropic contributions; capital market investments; tourism; job creation; business development and Innovation.
8) Optimize the quality and delivery of our public services to ensure maximum impact and efficiency and that will enhance the ease-of-doing-business in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“This initiative provides another vivid demonstration of the vision and commitment of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party towards building resilience into the economy of St. Kitts and Nevis. Our Next Gen team wants to hit the ground running, with great urgency from our first day in office, in a manner that would make life more affordable and less stressful for our young people, families and businesses. Despite the setbacks and fear caused by the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic, the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party is ready to seize the opportunities upon which the foundation of a new post-COVID economy can be laid for the betterment of our people,” stated the Rt. Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas, Political Leader of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party.
The Economic Recovery Advisory Council will comprise experts, thought-leaders and professionals in relevant areas of economic and social reconstruction. The Council will provide monthly written reports on the progress of its work to the executive of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party and the future NextGen SKN Labour Administration leading up to the Federal election.
The St Kitts & Nevis Federal election must take place no later than August, 2020. The National Assembly will dissolve automatically on May 14, unless it is dissolved sooner by the outgoing Prime Minister, Timothy Harris.