Before investing in a second citizenship, any mindful investor should know the benefits and perks that citizenship affords them. Second citizenship holders may benefit from the advantages and opportunities their dual citizenship offers and the organizations where it holds membership.
The most prominent countries offering citizenship by investment programs, such as Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis, are located in the Caribbean region. And as such, they belong to an important economic and political organization known as CARICOM, the Caribbean Community, an organization that brings together 15 member states and dependencies.
In that preview, it’s crucial to understand what this organization is and what it does so that you can understand how it can benefit its citizens, whether they’re local or economic.
The foundations of CARICOM
CARICOM was founded in 1973 by the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which was signed in Trinidad and Tobago, and has developed from a four-member group (Barbados, Jamaica, Guiana, and Trinidad and Tobago) to an international organization with an almost all-encompassing influence throughout the Caribbean.
In 1974, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts and Nevis joined CARICOM. The Bahamas joined in 1983, followed by Suriname in 1995. And finally, Haiti permanently joined the organization in 2002 after its provisional membership in 1998.
Additional associate members, all British Overseas Territories, progressively joined CARICOM since the 1990s. The British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands joined in 1991, Anguilla in 1999, the Cayman Islands in 2002, and Bermuda in 2003.
And lastly, the Community also includes observer eight observer states that engage in at least one of its technical committees. Those observer countries are Aruba, Colombia, Curacao, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, and Venezuela.
The Community’s mission was straightforward: encouraging economic integration, collaboration, and foreign policy coordination among its members. It supplanted the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA), which had been operating since the mid-1960s.
CARICOM in the works
CARICOM has been a dynamic organization for almost 50 years, implementing improvements that have had a meaningful impact on the ground.
The Caribbean Community's goals: the betterment of the region in every way
According to CARICOM’s amended treaty, Chapter one article 6 lists the following objectives for the Community:
- improved standards of living and work; full employment of labour and other factors of production;
- accelerated, coordinated, and sustained economic development and convergence;
- expansion of trade and economic relations with third States; (e) enhanced levels of international competitiveness;
- organization for increased production and productivity;
- the achievement of a greater measure of economic leverage and effectiveness of Member States in dealing with third States, groups of States, and entities of any description;
- enhanced coordination of Member States’ foreign and [foreign] economic policies; and
- enhanced functional co-operation, including –
– more efficient operation of common services and activities for the benefit of its peoples;
– accelerated promotion of greater understanding among its peoples and the advancement of their social, cultural, and technological development;
– Intensified activities in areas such as health, education, transportation, and telecommunications.
Briefly, the Community aims to advance the standards of living, and it also strives to push forward the economic and trade standing of the region among the global Community. Those efforts are likely to create a prosperous business landscape for local business people and overseas economic citizenship holders such as citizenship by investment applicants.
CSME: A Single Market Economy for Regional growth
The Caribbean Single Market Economy is a relatively new addition to CARICOM, and its primary purpose is to drive economic growth in the region. It was envisioned back in 1989 with three key objectives:
- Deepening the economic integration by advancing beyond a common market toward a single market economy
- Widening the membership and thereby expanding the economic mass of the Caribbean Community
- Progressive insertion of the region into the global economic system by strengthening trade links with non-traditional partners
The Community's institutions, an investment haven
CARICOM is home to a body of twenty-nine institutions that tackle each interest avenue of the region. The Community has its own court of justice, a congress of labor, health and education institutions, economic, trades, safety and energy organizations, and many more.
CARICOM publishes notices on its official website for procurement and opportunities for the benefit of its local and economic citizens alike. In addition, citizenship by investment applicants may be interested in the contracts and project opportunities that the individual institutions may provide.
Among the twenty-nine CARICOM institutions, the following nine routinely publish opportunities, projects, and consultancies and allow proposal submissions on their respective official website:
– Caribbean Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE)
– Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO)
– CARICOM Development Fund (CDF)
– Caribbean Export and Investment Agency (Carib-Export)
– Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC)
– CARICOM Implementing Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS)
– Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
– Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA)
– Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)
These projects and opportunities drive the prosperity of the Community. They also ripen the economic landscape for a healthier investment environment for economic citizenship holders to expand their businesses and broaden their reach.
Restriction-free travel across the Caribbean Community
Since 1990, thanks to the Grand Anse Declaration, CARICOM nationals have been permitted to travel inside the Community without requiring a citizenship to encourage intra-CARICOM tourism and a sense of Community.
Indeed, according to article 45 in the amended treaty, Member States commit themselves to the goal of free movement of their nationals within the Community. That means that citizenship by investment applicants can then take advantage of travel within the CARICOM member countries once their application is accepted and they receive their citizenship.
Furthermore, according to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ, a CARICOM institution founded in 2005), a CARICOM national is entitled to six months in any other member country.
Citizenship by investment – Access global mobility and the world economy
The Caribbean region is progressively an emerging economy with global reach, both in enhanced global mobility and international trade deals through CARICOM. Citizenship by investment unlocks both benefits for its applicants and much more.
PassPro is a government-authorized agent specializing in citizenship by investment. Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis currently offer citizenship by investment programs. Contact one of our trusted authorized agents today for a free consultation at +971 4 554 1449 and find out which program is best for you.
