BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Barbados' government continues to defend its decision to grant concession, including land, to international organizations as the main opposition Democratic Labour Party (DLP) maintained its opposition to government land to the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for its Caribbean headquarters here.
Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Kerrie Symmonds, speaking at the news conference on Monday (BGIS Photo).Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister, Kerrie Symmonds, said the giving of concessions, such as land, to international organizations setting up offices on the island is nothing new, citing historical precedents with other international organizations.
The DLP said that while it is not against the Afreximbank establishing its operations here, it is against “giving away” prime land free of cost to the bank as an unprecedented betrayal of taxpayers.
“The hurtful thing about it is that you have a government that is actually giving away prime real estate to a multibillion-dollar bank.,” DLP Senator, Andre Worrell told a public meeting.
“We are not opposed to having a headquarters in Barbados, or even for it to be in Jemmott’s Lane. What we are concerned about is the manner in which the government went about giving away the land of the people of Barbados—for not even a dollar.”
But Symmonds has sought to correct what her termed the “misconceptions” circulating in the public domain, noting that the approximately two hectares of land where the Afreximbank African Trade Centre is to be constructed, was given as part of the concessions agreed upon between the Barbados government and the Egypt-based financial institution.
“You don’t just give concessions on an airy-fairy basis,” Symmonds said, noting that similar land concessions or land lease agreements were entered into with other organizations with offices here over the years, as a means of “attracting” them.
He said some of these organizations include the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), United Nations, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the International Police (INTERPOL) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
“There is tremendous precedent. There is a practice in this business, and there’s really no need for us now to try to create a false impression that this is something new.
“Governments of Barbados, throughout the years, have been doing this type of thing in order to attract headquarters to the country, in order to be able to make sure that there are agencies in Barbados, which are significant, …which are capable of attracting business to this country, which help lift our international reputation, and that, in turn, helps to promote investment into Barbados and more commercial activity and employment for our people,” . Symmonds said.
“I believe that there are some genuine misunderstandings of what is involved here, and it is really important to bring some clarity. Let us be clear, around the world, headquarters agreements are prized possessions.
There is no country that does not seek to accumulate as many headquarters arrangements as possible because it brings significant diplomatic prestige; it brings economic activity, and so, therefore, it is vital above and beyond the diplomatic benefits….
“So, I want to underscore the reason why we treat these matters as being exceptionally important. It is a very highly competitive area…. To make ourselves competitive, countries around the world, just like Barbados, enter into what might be called concessionary discussions, but at a basic level, there must be privileges and immunities for some of these institutions and entities.
“We are no different, so we have a system of privileges which we give to those people who are working here, quasi diplomatic nature in some cases, and also immunities from certain requirements in other cases, that is part of the incentive to business,” Symmonds said, adding that the Afreximbank project includes a BDS300 million (One Barbados dollar=US$0.50 cents) headquarters, a trade center for business development, and a hotel.
He said these initiatives are expected to create employment, boost the economy, and offer a foreign exchange component.
“The Trade Centre is largely about business development in Barbados. It is about technical firms having a hub; it is about small and medium enterprise development; it is about digital services development for this country, so it is functioning largely as an incubator for businesses of that type.
“And I don’t think that anyone will seriously argue that those types of services and facilities are not only important for Barbados, but that Barbados now can become a host for the region in that regard,” he added.
Summonds said in addition to the financial benefits, it was important to make connections between Barbados and the African continent.
“There is a link which the Government is trying to build with the African Union and the entire African continent…. It was relevant before for heritage reasons; it was relevant before for diversification reasons – diversification of economic opportunity, diversification of what we see as tourism potential.
“But it becomes all the more relevant now, in a world in which, as we have all seen, those economies of the North are less welcoming and are demonstrating a substantially less degree of interest in the well-being of the small island developing states, such as ours here in the Caribbean,” the Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister stated.
Worrell insisted that there was no justification for transferring ownership of the land, citing past instances where international institutions were welcomed under more advantageous terms.
“The United Nations headquarters in Barbados was not just handed over. The National Insurance Scheme (NIS) built the headquarters, and the UN leased it from them, ensuring that lease payments contributed to the NIS.”
Similarly, he pointed out that the CDB was established here without requiring the government to surrender ownership of national assets.
“The CDB is owned by Caribbean countries, including Barbados, and we sit on its board of directors. That land was never given away,” Worrell said, adding that in stark contrast, Afreximbank is a commercial entity over which Barbados has no influence.
He warned that transferring ownership of the land stripped Barbados of any control over the property, which he said could have serious consequences.
“When they vested the land into the bank, it means that the bank has the title to that land, and they can do whatever they want with it. If, in 10 or 20 years, the bank fails, what happens then? That asset could be sold off to cover debts, and the headquarters could be moved out of Barbados. Where would that leave us?”
Worrell also criticized how the deal was conducted, saying Barbadians were kept in the dark until after the land transfer was finalized.
“The decision was made in 2022, but we only found out about it recently,” he said.
