BARBADOS HAS NO intention of resting on its laurels with regards to its recent blacklisting status by members of the European Union (EU).
International Business Minister, Donville Inniss, reaffirmed this position while speaking to reporters last Saturday evening after the official opening of the Cooperatives Fair at Pelican Village, Princess Alice Highway.
Stating that his Ministry had already prepared letters to be dispatched to the appropriate EU countries that unfortunately and erroneously placed Barbados on its list, the Minister said he expected that with haste they would seek to correct the injustice and the error therein.
Explaining that the International Business and Financial Services Sector is very critical to our economy and society, the Minister noted that although tourism is doing its part, this particular sector was extremely resilient.
“Certainly to my mind, this sector offers tremendous opportunities for jobs, for our services sector to earn foreign exchange and in some respects to save foreign exchange; but a lot also hinges on Barbados’ reputation and its network of treaties and relations with foreign countries, apart from the business environment we provide here in Barbados and that is why matters such as being blacklisted, which is quite a racial term to my mind, and other pertinent matters in the international tax policy domain, remains very critical on our agenda,” the Minister asserted.
Inniss further indicated that he was also aware that issues such as these were not “very exciting” for the average Barbadian, but, he explained, that when persons translated it into the amount of jobs that could be created and the amount of monies earned, this sector alone last year generated $900 million dollars for the Barbadian economy. And, therefore, he stressed it was not something we could laugh at. (BGIS)
