News

Bahamas PM Defends Offshore Economies in Speech to UN General Assembly

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - September 30, 2013

Above: Bahamas PM Perry Christie (UN Photo/Ryan Brown)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United Nations needs to develop mechanisms to govern offshore financial services in order to protect small offshore economies, Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie told the UN General Assembly this weekend.

Christie said high-powered countries were trying to force their will on countries like the Bahamas, which are reliant on offshore finance for economic growth.

“We see this same dynamic at work in the ongoing economic aggression of many of the more developed countries against small offshore financial service-based economies, especially in the Caribbean region of which The Bahamas is a part,” he said. “Some have used their power either unilaterally or in small groups of high-powered nations to impose their will, arguing that there is something fundamentally immoral, something intrinsically sinister, about the accumulation of wealth in offshore jurisdictions.”

Christie said he rejected “in the strongest possible terms the efforts of some to maim and cripple, if not destroy, the offshore economies within our region.”

He said that offshore financial services could be “responsibly operated and regulated,” and that most of the offshore wealth actually benefits the developing world.

“Unilateralism and diplomacy-by-coercion are not the way the world should be dealing with this issue,” he said.

Instead, he said, “we need to challenge the UN to take the lead in developing and refining multilateral global mechanisms for the governance of the offshore financial services sector; mechanisms that wilt meet the legitimate demands of the developed world for the protection of their fiscal systems and their need for greater security, while at the same time allowing offshore financial service economies to continue to grow in an orderly and properly regulated way.”

Destroying offshore financial service economies will “destabilize the countries that depend upon them for their livelihood,” he said.

“To destroy this sector in the Caribbean would effectively cause tens of thousands of newly empowered middle class citizens to slip back into poverty or to migrate to the developed world,” he said.

Popular Posts w punta cana

A New All-Inclusive W Hotel Is Opening This Year in Punta Cana 

The first-ever all-inclusive W Hotel in the Caribbean is opening this year in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Caribbean Journal has learned.  The hotel, part of a broad expansion for parent company Marriott International, is on the list of expected 2024 […]


Why Grenada Is a New Caribbean Luxury Hotspot

beach house silversands

From its world-renowned chocolate to its pristine beaches to a region-leading focus on sustainability, Grenada is as fascinating and unique as destination as you’ll find in the Caribbean.  But in the last few years, the lush Eastern Caribberan island has […]


5 Adults-Only Resorts to Visit Right Now in the Caribbean 

galley bay

Sometimes you just want that extra degree of serenity, of privacy, of seclusion. There is a reason, after all, that adults-only resorts are booming in popularity, particularly in the Caribbean: travelers want to know that when they arrive, they know […]


Related Posts the current

How The Bahamas' Baha Mar Resort Became a Caribbean Art Destination

Just a short stroll from the lobby at the Baha Mar resort in Nassau is one of the nicest art galleries you’ll see in the Caribbean, called The Current. Walk up another story and you’ll find a different one, this […]


Silver Airways Is Adding Nonstop Flights to Two Islands in The Bahamas 

bahamas tourism booming

Continuing its active expansion in the wider region, Silver Airways is adding a pair of new nonstop routes to the islands of The Bahamas, Caribbean Journal has learned.  Beginning in March, Silver will be relaunching service from West Palm Beach […]


Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas Arrives in Miami

icon of the seas in miami

Royal Caribbean’s massive new Icon of the Seas cruise ship has arrived in Miami ahead of its Caribbean launch.  Icon, the largest cruise ship in the world,  will begin its first Caribbean cruise on Jan. 27.  The ship, which will […]


SUBSCRIBE!

Sign up for Caribbean Journal's free newsletter for a daily dose of beaches, hotels, rum and the best Caribbean travel information on the net.


No. Thank You