Premier defends ‘jam-packed’ BVI-India tour agenda

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has defended the government’s recent financial services mission to India after a reporter questioned whether the delegation had secured the meetings it planned to hold during the trip.

At a press conference, reporter Cindy Rosan asked how the government measured the mission’s success, saying its team had been unable to confirm more than 60 per cent of its planned meetings. She then asked whether all the meetings had been confirmed. The Premier did not provide a figure for confirmed meetings.

“We had a jam-packed agenda. We couldn’t possibly fit another meeting,” Dr Wheatley said.

When the reporter pressed him on whether the delegation had secured the meetings it wanted, he pointed to an engagement with India’s Minister of Finance. “Oh, man, we got meetings we didn’t even expect we would get,” he said.

“I mean, that was the highest-level meeting. I mean, we have a 35,000 population — an overseas territory, you know, small jurisdiction. To be able to secure a meeting with the Minister of Finance of the Indian government, that’s a pretty big deal,” Dr Wheatley said.

In addition to meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Premier also said the delegation met senior regulators and visited India’s stock exchange. The mission ran from August 24 to 31 and included New Delhi, GIFT City, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Government targets

The reporter also asked when the BVI could expect results from the mission. Dr Wheatley said the government had set targets for increasing inbound and outbound investment, but he did not have the figures with him. He declined to give a timetable for gains.

“It doesn’t really work like that,” he said. “But what I would say to you is what we have done is we laid the pathway, we’ve made the pathway clear for the private sector to be able to do its work.”

Dr Wheatley said private sector participants had reported further engagement with clients following the trip. He proposed tracking investment into and out of India to measure progress over time, rather than offering a projection at the press conference.

“And I think perhaps instead of me giving some projections not based on anything, what would make sense is that we monitor both inbound and outbound numbers for investment into India and out of India,” he said.