Premier On Conference: “Very Encouraging”

March 28, 2014

Premier Craig Cannonier hailed his attendance at the Global Islamic Finance and Investment Group [GIFIG] in London as “very encouraging for Bermuda” as the island was further positioned as a viable option for Islamic Finance.

The objective of the GIFIG conference was to identify key global opportunities and barriers facing Islamic Finance and to utilize the Group’s extensive knowledge and expertise to create a global Islamic Finance market that supports growth and prosperity.

The Premier said, “Building on the speech and subsequent contacts that were made at the World Islamic Economic Forum [WIFE] held in London in October 2013, where Bermuda was the only country invited to speak from the UK Overseas Territories, this particular trip gave us another strategic opportunity to address the group of UK and Middle East stakeholders and practitioners of various financial industries about the benefits of investing in Bermuda – a message that I believe was well received.

Premier Cannonier poses with other GIFIG attendees:

premier-cannonier-gifig-conference

“I let them know that Bermuda is committed to becoming a viable option for Islamic Finance. I also advised them that we have further opened our doors to foreign investment from around the world inclusive of the Islamic countries, both in terms of establishing international financial entities and in terms of foreign direct investment in our various infrastructure projects.”

The Premier further told the conference attendees that the “entire world should support the integration of Islamic law-compliant [Sharia] financial instruments into the global financial system as these instruments, as a requirement of Islamic law, are based on social responsibility, ethical objectives, and social equity, and that he hoped the UK and the Islamic countries that are members of the G20 will lead the world in those global arenas discussing the global financial system.”

The Premier said, “The next steps for Bermuda will be to document our value propositions and invite the various Islamic Finance stakeholders to the Island to see our potential first-hand.”

Accompanying the Premier were Minister of Finance Bob Richards, the Secretary to the Cabinet Dr. Derrick Binns, and Assistant Financial Secretary Mr. Wayne Brown. Participants at the conference included heads of Islamic Central Banks from Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

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Comments (17)

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  1. Trips Again says:

    Why are we wasting time on this?

    During our boom years we ignored emerging market wealth and emerging economies that are now mature and already using well established financial centres like Singapore, Switzerland, Dubai etc who are fully equipped with no visa restrictions, decent hotel, nightlife and of course staff that all speak Arabic, or the relevant local language of the major client market being serviced.

    Please stop wasting taxpayers money attending useless conferences where the only people presenting to the audience are from existing leading financial centres that already have over 95% of the Islamic Finance market, why didn’t the Cabinet Secretary and Assistant Financial Secretary simply show the Premier the powerpoint slides from the last conference they attended under PLP Govt and explain to the Premier that unless we can attract at least 5 major existing service providers from established Islamic Financial centres, to defect to Bermuda, with their staff, language skills and of course full blanket work permit approvals, that it is highly unlikely that we will gain any shape of relevance to this market segment.

    Who advises the Premier? Please tell me not people who want to take trips and boost their BA mileage awards?

  2. Coffee says:

    We better get some returns out of all these expensive trips .

    • jt says:

      I agree that we are loooong overdue to see a return from political travel. But expensive can certainly be a relative term.

  3. Justin says:

    Was he ever going to say it was waste of time?

    I will start believing when I see Islamic companies in Bermuda and hiring Bermudians!

  4. Common Sense says:

    Let’s face it, it really doesn’t matter what Premier Cannonier and the OBA Government do in their efforts to turn around and grow our economy, even if they follow up on the ground work started by the former PLP Government. The opposition bloggers will do nothing but moan and complain about either the money spent, or that the Premier has no idea what he’s doing.

    What we are engaged in these days in Bermuda is constantly shooting ourselves in the foot. I suspect that if the Premier had done NOTHING to support the GIFIG initiative started by the PLP he would be endlessly criticised by the usual clique for dropping the ball and failing to follow through on a potential opportunity to bring more business to Bermuda.

    Personally, I believe we need to take just about every opportunity to turn our economy around and that is exactly what our Premier is doing. I know it would sicken some folks to get behind him for once, just as it did other folks when our PLP Premiers tried to do almost exactly the same things, but if we are to make any progress we need to be speaking with one voice on issues as critical as boosting our economy and our jobs.

    If Premier Cannonier and the OBA fail to make progress then we might well vote them out of office in 4 years, and who knows, we might even vote in a completely new party, but make no mistake, we will continue to have our usual bloggers moaning and groaning if they don’t get their own way.

    • Trott says:

      You need to face it……… that people on both sides of the political spectrum don’t have and faith in Premier Cannonier. Yes I voted OBA like many others, but he is not a good leader.

      • swing voter says:

        I could name a couple of past leaders that were far worse than PCC…to the point where their narcissistic behavior costs us dearly

      • Mike Hind says:

        How? I keep hearing what a lousy leader he is, but none of you will explain.
        Care to?

  5. Encyclopedia says:

    The cost of doing business in Dubai and neighboring Oman are a fraction of that in Bermuda. We have a business in Oman. Unless the costs dramatically reduce, all this is a waste of time !!

    Focus should be on reducing costs at home, in order to attract any investments or business from abroad.

    • Mike Hind says:

      How?
      Any suggestions on how to reduce costs?

    • Sandy Bottom says:

      The cost of doing business in Dubai is not a “fraction” of the cost in Bermuda. You have no idea.

  6. Infidelguy says:

    I know it’s pretty much a done deal, but I can’t understand why our government would want to participate in upholding a system that brings nothing but misery to the majority of people living under it (especially females)? I understand the government is desperate for outside investment, but this is really a bad move in my opinion. Anyone that understands what it’s like to live under Sharia Law would want to distance themselves as far from it as possible. I understand that we are no immediate danger if becoming an Islamic State but you only need to take a look at the UK to see how Sharia Law has insidiously worked its way into their society with the introduction of Islamic courts.

    I think the saying, “…money is the root of all kinds of evil”, is more than appropriate when it comes to Sharia Finance.

  7. Insurance Lawyer says:

    We will not get business from Islamic states because of the sophisticated independent nature of finance in the UAE which doesn’t march to the oECD or other bodies because they are autonomous with their oil and all speak the same language.

    These trips are a waste of money – period.

    • Sandy Bottom says:

      How is it then that London has built up a lot of Islamic finance business?

  8. blue bird says:

    You can try all you want to attract Business to Bermuda but it will not solve our “PROBLEMS”
    We (or the Government) has a spending problem and we are trying to “BORROW” our way out of “DEBT”
    Every time we BORROW more money like the $276Million this year to keep Government going it does go on our $2.324Billion DEBT.
    We “CANNOT” afford $750Million per year to pay 8,000 Govt/quango payroll.
    We cannot get rid of or fire the Civil Service as they are a “VOTING BLOCK” and will continue to “DRAIN” the economy.
    When the “DEBT” exceeds our ability to pay the poop will hit the fan and we will see some down sizing and out “CURRENCY” will be worth a lot less.
    Then it might be more attractive to do Business in Bermuda.

  9. Alvin Williams says:

    The reason why this OBA government get some much stick is because it did so much boasting about how it was going to solve Bermuda’s economic problems? The chickens have not only come home; but have laid some eggs right on top of their heads.