My fellow countryman, Good Morning.
Today it is a pleasure to address you using this forum in what I hope will be a monthly address to the Nation to share with you some of the upcoming plans of the Government, and update on the progress being made in meeting key milestones in the further development of these beautiful by nature Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Since coming into Office, my Cabinet Ministers and I have consistently sought to update you on decisions made by Cabinet at our bi-weekly post Cabinet Press Briefing. While this in itself is laudable, it is envisioned that my Monthly Address to the Nation will speak more broadly of upcoming plans and aspiration of the Government with the hope of fostering greater public discussions and further inform and guide the government in its decision making.
I am strongly of the view that we were elected to this office to serve you the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and it is only by working together that we can build this nation and tackle the problems of unemployment, the Economy and Education of our youths. Together we have to build a roadmap where all will have water, electricity, sanitation, jobs, housing, public transport, adequate nutrition, education, social protection, quality healthcare, recreation and a clean environment
Due the global economic recession and the stringent financial management framework and procurement processes, the achievement of these goals has proven to be difficult in the recent past. As part of our National Development Plan, myself along with my Ministers will outline in the upcoming Budget Debate in the House of Parliament strategic interventions that we believe can put the TCI economy on a better footing.
One of these initiative involve promoting investment opportunities in the TCI, thus attracting high valued, profitable and sustainable investment portfolios to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Last week I led a delegation, comprising of TCI private sector investors along with the Minister for Finance, Hon. Washington Misick to the Invest Caribbean Now conference held during Caribbean Tourism Week in New York in which we alerted the investment world that TCI is once again open for business.
Our visit and the message were warmly received by all in attendance which sparked a buzzed throughout the investment conference. Hon. Misick and I also held several private one-on-one meetings with investor groups to explore the options which we would be willing to facilitate in the TCI. Today, I would like to report that the mission to New York was a huge success as we have already received follow up emails and are actively pursuing opportunities and linkages, which were forged during the meeting.
In my last meeting with the business community, the sector indicated that for the economy to grow three-fold, we must remove certain obstacles and streamline the process of doing business in the TCI.
To this end, my Government will take a closer look at the immigration process, the planning process and business licensing process to see if there are avenues and opportunities which we can improve upon. In this day of technology, and fast pace world it is no longer acceptable for a work permit application to take 12 months to be approved.
An investor or business person should not have to wait 6-12 months to get feedback on his/her planning application, and while we are promoting the liberalization of business license process, we must do so and ensure that adequate protection are in place to empower Turks and Caicos Islanders so that they can reap the maximum benefit from the investments made in the TCI.
In the weeks ahead, my Government shall formulate policy discussion documents which I will share with the Public for consultation on streamlining many of these processes. As you no doubt would agree, it is pointless to go out and market that TCI is open for business but only to have investors bug-down through paper work and unnecessary bureaucracies.
Permit me to be clear, when I speak of investors I mean local and foreign investors alike. Many of the complaints I have received are from local small business who are finding it very difficult to do business in the TCI due to unnecessary bureaucracies.
We aim to strengthen areas that need strengthening, do away with unnecessary red tape, and replace this with a red carpet approach for all.
We will engage businesses, labour and other social partners in pursuit of solutions. No single force acting individually can achieve the objectives we have set for ourselves. We all must work together in the building of our nation, whether you are a civil servant, a taxi driver or manager in a hotel, we all have our part to play in promoting investment in the country and servicing the tourism industry.
I pause to applaud the good work I have seen of the Public Works Department crew and several volunteer organizations in cleaning the streets. I hasten to add that as a Luxury Tourism Destination, which is beautiful by nature we must, as a country and as a people act more responsibly and keep our island clean. The practice of throwing empty bottles and cans out your car window must stop immediately.
We have to hold people more accountable for their actions and take steps to actively enforce the law. The current law requires that ALL persons must keep their premises and the adjacent roadway clean. Consequently, I have directed the Minister with responsibility for Health and Social Development, Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith to formulate a task force comprising of representative from Environmental Health Department, Planning Department, Ministry of Government Support Services, Tourist Board, Road Safety Department, Traffic Department of the Police Force and Public Works to use the combined resources of their office, and the various respective legislations to actively engage offenders and address the mounting problem of public littering.
If I may use the phase from the Tourist Board which states that “Tourism is Everybody Business.” We as a Government, Civil Servants, Private Sector, moms, dads, aunts and uncle must adopt this phrase; we all have a part to play in contributing to the visitor experience.
The past few years have demonstrated that where the people intervenes strongly and consistently, it can turn around any major threats as has happened in our campaign against VAT.
We now need a campaign to build this economy, by promoting investment opportunities, doing our part to service the tourism industry and build a better and brighter future for our children.
May God continue to bless these beautiful by Nature Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands.
I thank you,
Dr. Rufus Ewing, Premier of the Turks & Caicos
June 13, 2013
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