ANTIGUA — The Antigua government’s plan to create a fourth investment option for the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CIP) at a cost of $150,000 is foolhardy, according to the United Progressive Party’s (UPP) Damani Tabor, the Antigua Observer reported on May 19.
Senator Tabor argued that few will find the new option attractive when they could get citizenship for $100,000.
“Everything is self-interest. With the real estate option you have the benefit of the property you invested in, or if you invest in the share of a hotel then you get the dividend. No investor is going to plunk down any kind of money out of the goodness of their hearts unless of course there is some side deal,” Tabor said.
Speaking on OBSERVER AM yesterday, the UPP’s public relations officer said the plan will fail.
He added that there would need to be some sort of incentive to convince prospective investors that putting their monies into what is expected to become the fourth University of the West Indies (UWI) campus, is an investment opportunity.
The CIP has three investment options as it stands: making a direct cash contribution of $100,000, making a real estate investment worth $400,000, or making a business investment worth $1.5 million.
