IM Yearbook 2018/19

INVESTMENT MIGRATION YEARBOOK 2018/2019
IM
“With
globalisation,
global
citizenship
is no longer
a myth
but a need of the 21st
Century citizen. With the
shrinkage of the world
in terms of access and
travel and the evolution of
the fragmented national
markets into a single world
market, hassle-free travel
to a maximum number
of countries is essential
for success in business
on an international level.
Investor residence permits
will become more and
more important as a tool
for business, and the
countries with the most
serious outlook on this
growing industry will
benefit considerably.”
Swadeck E.M. Taher
Founder and CEO
Sakeenah Group, Mauritius
5.
Responsible
Marketing
Marketing compliance is a new and emerging
trend in many other industries and will
shortly play a role in the investment migration
industry too. Programmes, concessionaires
and their referral partners will need to pay
particular attention to the advertising and
promotion campaigns that they are running
in countries across the world so that they
don’t fall afoul of the local regulations that
are being increasingly enacted and enforced
by consumer protection authorities.
6.
Due Diligence
Compared to other industries, the investment
migration industry does a greater level of indepth
checking of people, including having
people on-the-ground confirming that the
provided information is correct. While the
banking sector is often being held up as the
standard that the industry needs to attain, the
reality is that in many cases the RCBI sector
is much further ahead. In order to ensure
future success, the programmes will need to
continuously keep pushing the boundaries
and remain at the forefront of due diligence
innovation to give comfort to both the industry’s
partners and its external stakeholders.
7.
Economic
Drivers
With many of these programmes now
representing anything between 4% to 25% of
GDP in some countries, RCBI programmes
can have a powerful influence on economies.
They are helping in delivering infrastructure
improvements and economic diversification,
as well as reducing governments’ deficits. The
major task for the future will be to ensure
that countries do not become economically
dependent on these programmes.
8.
Country
Attraction
While many programmes were primarily
established to improve a country’s economy
and infrastructure for the benefit of the local
population, greater demands on applicants
(of having a genuine and deep connection
with their host nations) also mean countries
need to start upgrading their offering to meet
the tastes and lifestyles of these individuals
in areas such as entertainment, education
and healthcare. Countries will need to offer
applicants an entire package as opposed to
just citizenship and residency on its own.
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