"People With Exceptional Longevity" - Dominica Invests Heavily in Healthcare Using Funds from Its Reputable Citizenship by Investment Programme

LONDON, Oct. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Commonwealth of Dominica is investing significantly into healthcare using funds from its reputable Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme. This week, the island celebrated the 'International Day of Older Persons' as government representatives discussed how it can provide better support for the senior population.

The Nature Isle of the Caribbean, as Dominica is known as, is also where an unusual number of the population is over 100 years of age. In line with providing an exceptionally healthy environment to live in, the government is also focused on preserving the untainted natural beauty of the island and constructs economic growth around sustainability. The Skerrit administration has been incorporating climate resilience into its policies and diversifying the economy to include the development of ecotourism, which is also sponsored by the CBI Programme.

The CBI Programme enables carefully vetted individuals and their close relatives to acquire second citizenship from Dominica upon making an economic contribution to the island, which, in turn, benefits native citizens. Applicants that first successfully pass all due diligence checks can then choose to make a donation worth at least USD100,000 to the Economic Diversification Fund (EDF) or USD200,000 minimum into one of the select few CBI-approved luxury hotels and resorts.

Joseph Isaac, the Minister of Environment, Climate Resilience, Disaster Management and Urban Renewal, paid tribute to Dominica's growing number of centenarians, who earned the nation its "global status as a people with exceptional longevity." A balanced lifestyle, efficient public healthcare, an organic diet, plenty of wellness facilities, a non-mainstream approach to tourism, smart investments in climate resilience, and anti-pollution reforms are key factors that make Dominica an extraordinarily healthy place to live in. The CBI Programme gave the island substantial monetary reserves to make such initiatives come to fruition, enabling the government to secure important further support from international development partners.

A recent report devised by the multinational firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) examined how exactly Dominica's CBI Programme applies generated funds towards key development areas and made good note of its contribution to the development of the island's healthcare sector. The report highlighted some of the health initiatives funded by the CBI, including the repair of three hospitals and six health centres following 2017's Hurricane Maria. The CBI receipts have been a "lifeline" for Dominica's rapid recovery post-Maria and its road to becoming "the world's first climate-resilient nation", as Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit often mentions. As regards providing the population with better healthcare, the CBI Programme also sponsored 16 children to benefit from vital overseas medical treatment between 2017 and 2018.

In September, a modernised hospital wing was opened with support from the Chinese government. It is part of a longer list of medical facilities being built across the island, reportedly counting 12 new health centres and two modern hospitals. Recently, Premier Skerrit revealed that, before the end of the year, construction would begin on a new CBI-funded hospital in Marigot, which would benefit citizens from Calibishie to the indigenous community in the Kalinago Territory. "We will be utilising the route of the CBI to finance the Marigot Hospital similar to how we are building the residences, the homes in Dominica utilising the CBI," said PM Skerrit.

The PwC's analysis of the CBI expenditure between 2014 and 2019 concluded that the Citizenship by Investment Programme "has generated tangible impacts on almost every aspect of life in Dominica." Initially launched in 1993, Dominica's CBI Programme underwent a transformation in 2014 that included the introduction of a new route for those hoping to acquire Dominican citizenship coupled with real estate investment. Importantly, the Programme also adopted a more elaborate due diligence framework in 2014, which started to attract more reputable investors seeking to secure second citizenship from a more reliable and internationally credible CBI Programme.

In August, an FT Specialist study recognised Dominica as the best country in the world for citizenship by investment, for a third consecutive year. The 2019 CBI Index acknowledged the island's commitment to transparency, high due diligence standards and effective processes that foreign investors value most when seeking second citizenship.

Contact: [email protected], www.csglobalpartners.com

SOURCE CS Global Partners

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