Grenada Wednesday rebranded its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Unit with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell saying he hopes it will result in more Grenadians supporting and defending this migration industry that has brought in revenue estimated at EC$456 million last year.
Grenada is among a handful of Caribbean countries with CBI programmes that allow for citizenship to foreign investors in return for making a significant investment in the socio-economic development of the island.
“Migrations is a natural part of humankind’s existence and as small islands it is really upon us to benefit as much as we can from the migration of persons, whether temporarily or permanently,” Mitchell told the ceremony at which the Unit is now re-named the Investment Migration Agency of Grenada.
“We see the migration investment industry as any other financial services industry that is available to mankind to be able to maximise the benefit of being a global citizen,” said Mitchell.
He said he believes that the rebranding should change Grenadian concepts of the migration industry.
“If we do not get our population to owe and support and defend this industry it will be quite easy for those who wish to see its demise to do so because if we don’t have local support for the migration industry and the benefits that this country has obtained as a result out of having this program then it become much more difficult to defend,” he said.
In recent times, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States have expressed concerns about the programme. They believe it posed a national security risk to their borders.
On Tuesday, Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) with a CBI programme are developing mutual legislation to address the concerns raised by those countries.
“As you know there are countries within the OECS who have these programmes, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St Kitts and Nevis…and the concerns have been raised by these (European) countries…and the need for all of us to take certain actions to set aside the concerns which the EU in particular would have had with these programme,” Skerrit said.
Earlier this month, the EU member states’ ambassadors agreed to draft regulation which will update the mechanism that allows the EU to suspend visa-free travel for countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa obligation when travelling to the Schengen area.
Chief Executive Officer of CBI Unit, Thomas Anthony, said the re-branding is taking place 10 years after the start of the programme because the unit needs to become more involved in the overall marketing and promotion of Grenada’s migration industry.
“The CBI Unit to become more involved in the marketing and promotion of the programme by crafting and managing the Grenada CBI narrative. A marketing and promotion programme is more effective when a company has a consistent clear message and brand identity,” he said.
“The current brand mark has inherent limitations in terms of how it may be used for different merchandise,” said Anthony, noting that the use of the Coat of Arms “does not stand out against competing regional countries.
“That being the case it quickly became obvious that we needed a new brand consisting of a brand mark, a logo and a tagline,” he said.
The tagline for the new entity is “Unlocking the possibilities” while the logo will be a derivative of the nutmeg and mace – the symbol on the flag and is currently one of Grenada’s main exports.