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NEWS PROVIDED BYCS Global Partners 

Jul 20, 2020, 15:55 ET

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LONDON, July 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Sports in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis is developing thanks to the country’s Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. This is according to Prime Minister Dr the Hon Timothy Harris who was a guest on last week’s webinar from Khaleej Times, in collaboration with CS Global Partners. He argued that developing sports is important for the region.

Speaking of CBI-sponsored initiatives, PM Harris gave the example of the international athletic track on the island of Nevis. He explained how CBI contributed towards developing tourism through the construction of a second cruise pier. He said that CBI sponsors programmes in both the private and public sector.

“If we were to look at sports development – and sports development is critical to us within the region – we have invested, for example, in the international athletic track in the sister island of Nevis,” PM Harris said. “We have invested in health services and expanded delivery of healthcare in the sister island of Nevis, and certainly on St Kitts too […] We have been able to support training programmes to prepare thousands of our people for real work opportunities when they would arise,” he added.

St Kitts and Nevis established the CBI Programme in 1984, a year after gaining independence from the UK. “We became an independent nation, and therefore we had to face all the challenges of development, basically using our own ingenuity, industry and resources,” PM Harris explained. “Developing a small state is never easy, because you start with the restriction in size – size of population, physical geography. All those things can strain the level and pace of development. So when we engineered the Citizenship by Investment Programme, it was intended to create an alternative pathway for growth and development.”

Today, CBI makes up to 35% of the government revenue. While citizenship hopefuls need not reside, visit, or know the English language or local culture, they do need to pass some of the toughest due diligence checks. Once successful, they can contribute US$150,000 to a government fund, which remains the fastest and safest route to second citizenship. This gives lifetime rights to live, work and study in the country, and access to high-quality healthcare and education. They can also travel to over 150 destinations without a pre-departure visa, a list that Foreign Minister Mark Brantley keeps adding to.