(PRESS RELEASE) – Saint Lucia has secured the 9th position globally and 4th regionally in the recently released Henley & Partners Global Citizenship Program Index (GCPI).
The annual report, now in its 4th edition, provides a systematic analysis and comprehensive benchmarking of the world’s most important investment migration programs and has become the industry gold standard for this type of evaluation.
The 12 countries included in the GCPI were evaluated according to 10 indicators: Reputation, Quality of Life, Visa-Free or Visa-on-Arrival Access, Processing Time and Quality of Processing, Compliance, Investment Requirements, Residence Requirements, Relocation Flexibility, Physical Visit Requirements, and Transparency. Each indicator had an equal weighting of 10, producing a total score out of 100 for each country.
Commenting on the achievement, Mark Maragh, Managing Director of Henley & Partners Saint Lucia, says:
“ The recent findings set Saint Lucia apart globally, as a destination of high standards and ease of doing business. This achievement is encouraging both for investors and the people of Saint Lucia, who will ultimately benefit from potential investments. We must continue to develop our product to improve our ranking and investor potential.”
The programs were evaluated by a distinguished panel of independent experts — including immigration and citizenship lawyers, economists, sovereign risk experts, and academic researchers — who took into account a broad range of factors pertaining to each program. The result is a global bird’s-eye view of the investment migration industry and a ranking of all the major programs on offer in both the residence and the citizenship sector.
Dr. Christian H. Kälin, an international immigration and citizenship law expert and Group Chairman of Henley & Partners, says, “The Global Residence and Citizenship Programs publication is an invaluable tool for all those interested in alternative residence or citizenship as well as for the professionals who advise them, including private client advisors, private bankers, and lawyers. It also provides governments operating investment migration programs with a detailed picture of the broader industry landscape and of where they fit within it.”
St. Kitts and Nevis and Grenada slid slightly down the ranking as a result of these new entries, but they maintained strong scores of 61 (St. Kitts and Nevis) and 59 (Grenada). Antigua and Barbuda is ranked 4th, with a score of 64.
A growing interest in residence and citizenship planning
According to Dr. Kälin, the need for a reference and benchmarking tool such as the Global Residence and Citizenship Programs report is more pressing than ever, as the investment migration industry continues to grow at a rapid pace.
“Demand for such programs is at an all-time high,” explains Dr. Kälin, “and new programs are being launched each year. In this high-growth climate, Henley & Partners is committed to providing authoritative, on-the-ground insights to those working in the field of investment migration as well as to the broader public. It is in precisely this spirit that we hold our annual Global Residence and Citizenship Conference, which is all about mapping the major trends and developments shaping our industry and our world.”
The annual event, now in its 12th year, will take place in Dubai this year, from 4–6 November. Over 400 delegates from more than 40 different countries are expected to attend, including presidents, prime ministers, senior government officials, leading academics, industry professionals, and top-tier financial and business media. Dr. Kälin says the conference offers delegates the opportunity to engage with the leading minds and ideas driving the current historic shift towards greater mobility and global citizenship.
Key speakers at the conference include Sophia the Robot, the world’s first-ever citizen-robot; the Prime Minister of Malta, the Hon. Dr. Joseph Muscat; H.E. Chiril Gaburici, Minister of Economy and Infrastructure for the Republic of Moldova; Nasif Kayed, Founder and CEO of The Arab Culturalist; and Taavi Kotka, former CIO of the Government of Estonia. Panel topics will range from the relevance of blockchain and artificial intelligence for global citizenship, to the latest developments in due diligence and compliance, to the implications of the current trade wars on democracy, to the factors that make small states successful.
In a special panel entitled ‘Nature, Nurture, and Nationality’, Prof. Dr. Dimitry Kochenov will discuss the 2018 edition of the Henley & Partners – Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index, explaining how the quality of a nationality affects the movement of talent and business.
Individuals interested in attending the 12th Global Residence and Citizenship Conference on 4–6 November can download the full program of events and register by visiting Henley & Partners’ website: https://www.henleyglobal.com/grcc2018-overview/
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