“The Chinese are taking over,” some joked after reading Friday’s front page story about the intention to build a 362-room hotel with showroom and 450 apartments on the island, combined with today’s report that 50 per cent of Nagico has been sold to a Hong Kong-based company. In reality investments from that part of Asia are on the rise all over the world, including the Caribbean.
The latest news concerning the insurance company clearly regards a business transaction that is not expected to have any immediate local effect. The deal apparently received all the necessary regulatory approval, which no doubt includes the green light from the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) as the monetary union’s financial sector supervisor.
The project at Belair Beach presented during Thursday night’s Town Hall Meeting by Prime Minister William Marlin and Finance Minister Richard Gibson is obviously huge and its impact would be enormous. There were many reactions both during the gathering and on social media questioning the venture because of possible consequences for the environment, public utilities, traffic, etc., which is quite understandable when mention was made of guaranteeing at least one million Chinese visitors per year.
For starters, it’s important to remember that tourism accommodations were already planned on that location with the shelved Barbaron development. Moreover, the group involved offered to find a water source and boost agriculture, as well as assisting St. Maarten in working on cheaper electricity and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, while the Chinese Government is to help create an “eco-city” here.
The proof of the pudding is always in the eating, so the announced visit by a delegation of 30 persons from China, Singapore, Malaysia and Canada for the groundbreaking on September 17 ought to provide a bit more clarity. If indeed US $60 million was transferred into the public-private venture, it would be a strong indication that this is a serious matter and not an election campaign stunt or belated April Fools’ Joke as some have suggested.
To put things into perspective, Aruba currently has more than a million stay-over guests per year, close to double the number of the Dutch side, which surpassed the one million annual cruise passengers mark years ago. If properly prepared, the additional burden on the island should not be insurmountable.
Fact is that St. Maarten’s tourism economy, which to a large extent relies on the traditional North American market has been hurting and such a major new impulse could rightfully be called “hitting the jackpot.” Time will tell.
