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By Terrance Rey
I just came across the welcome announcement that Government is moving forward with the establishment of a Sint Maarten Investment Promotion Agency. It is encouraging to see concrete action finally being taken to improve our country’s investment climate and strengthen our economic future.
Credit where credit is due.
Only a month ago, I wrote the column “Curaçao Is Showing Us the Way. Will Sint Maarten Follow?“ in which I argued that our country needed to modernize its approach to attracting investment and creating a more business friendly environment.
After sharing that article with Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT), Grisha Heyliger-Marten, she replied that Sint Maarten was already working on these reforms under Country Package E6. At the time, that was reassuring to hear. Today, I am pleased to see those words beginning to translate into action.
That is exactly the kind of progress our country needs.
However, establishing an Investment Promotion Agency should not simply be about convincing foreign investors to choose Sint Maarten over competing jurisdictions. Before we sell our island to the world, we must first ensure that our own entrepreneurs are thriving here at home.
That may sound obvious, yet it is perhaps the most overlooked principle in economic development.
Foreign investors are not naïve.
They do not invest because they attended a conference, received a glossy brochure, or heard an impressive presentation from government officials. They conduct extensive due diligence. They ask practical questions.
How easy is it to start a business?
How long does it take to obtain permits?
Are government procedures predictable?
Do regulations encourage entrepreneurship or discourage it?
Are local companies expanding or closing their doors?
Are existing investors reinvesting or quietly leaving?
The answers to those questions matter far more than any investment promotion campaign ever will.
In fact, local entrepreneurs are the best ambassadors a country can have.
When investors see local businesses succeeding, expanding, hiring employees, purchasing commercial property and creating wealth, confidence grows naturally. Success attracts success.
On the other hand, when local entrepreneurs spend months navigating unnecessary bureaucracy, investors immediately recognize that they will face the very same obstacles.
This is why I believe the first customers of any Investment Promotion Agency should not be foreign corporations.
Its first customers should be the entrepreneurs, startups, family businesses and local investors who have already chosen Sint Maarten.
Help them grow.
Help them invest.
Help them succeed.
The rest will follow.
This also requires us to honestly examine regulations that may have outlived their usefulness.
Take, for example, the Business License and Director’s License requirements.
Perhaps decades ago these requirements served a legitimate policy objective. But today’s economy looks very different from the one that existed when those laws were drafted.
A software developer serving clients worldwide from Philipsburg.
An artificial intelligence startup.
A digital marketing agency.
An online travel company.
A technology consultant.
An e-commerce entrepreneur.
These businesses generate international income without warehouses, storefronts or large physical operations. Yet many are still required to navigate licensing procedures that add time, cost and uncertainty while contributing very little to public protection.
We should ask ourselves an uncomfortable but necessary question.
Are these requirements genuinely protecting the public interest?
Or have they simply become administrative habits that discourage entrepreneurship?
Economic reform is not about removing every regulation.
It is about removing regulations that no longer serve a meaningful purpose.
If we truly want to improve our ranking for ease of doing business, reduce bureaucracy, encourage innovation and attract new industries, then these conversations cannot be avoided.
Ironically, the strongest investment promotion strategy is not promoting investment at all.
It is creating an environment where investment happens naturally.
When local entrepreneurs are optimistic about their future, they invest.
When local investors are expanding their businesses, others notice.
When foreign companies see cranes building new commercial properties, startups launching innovative products, businesses hiring staff and investors earning healthy returns, they no longer need convincing.
The market begins promoting itself.
That is the environment Sint Maarten should aspire to create.
I therefore applaud the establishment of an Investment Promotion Agency. It represents an important step forward and demonstrates that Government is serious about improving our economic competitiveness.
But let us make sure we get the sequence right.
Investment promotion does not begin overseas.
It begins in Philipsburg.
It begins in Cole Bay…. Cul de Sac… Simpson Bay.
It begins in every neighborhood where someone has an idea, is willing to take a risk, invest their savings and create jobs for others.
Build an island where local entrepreneurs can prosper, and foreign investors will not need much persuasion.
They will come because success leaves a trail that everyone wants to follow.
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Related articles:
Curaçao Is Showing Us the Way. Will Sint Maarten Follow?
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