Press Statement on Investments by Stanford Financial Group
by Hon Mr Lester B Bird, Prime Minister
on Friday, 7th February 2003

As you are aware the Cabinet yesterday met representatives of the Stanford Financial Group at the request of Mr R Allen Stanford.

Many of you would have seen a story on the front page of The Daily Observer yesterday in which it falsely claimed that the Cabinet sought the meeting.

In fact, Mr Stanford had requested the meeting two weeks ago and the date was set to accommodate his schedule.

You would also have heard a statement from the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Baldwin Spencer, in which he said that the decision by Mr Stanford to relocate the administrative headquarters of Caribbean Star to St Kitts "says a great deal about the Lester Bird administration and the investment climate in Antigua and Barbuda".

In saying so, he was trying to suggest that the investment climate here was bad and that my administration is scaring away investment.

It would be interesting to hear what Mr Spencer now has to say about the fact that Mr Stanford is investing a further EC$256 million in Antigua immediately, and that he is locating the headquarters of the Stanford Caribbean Investment Fund of US$2 billion in Antigua.

It is clear that far from scaring away investment, my administration is successful in attracting it for the benefit of the people of Antigua and Barbuda.

That is the track record we have had for years; that is the track record we continue to maintain.

Perhaps Mr Spencer needs to be reminded that while he and the UPP were suing investors and taking them to Court simply for wishing to invest in Antigua as they did with the Guiana Island project, and while he and the UPP were condoning the wanton destruction and disruption of investment as they did with the Carlisle Bay Hotel, my administration continued to seek investment for Antigua and Barbuda.

While the UPP sought to take bread off of people's tables, my Government sought to ensure that their table had plenty.

As it turned out the Cabinet and Mr Stanford and his team had an extraordinarily good meeting yesterday.

We did so against the backdrop of the very productive and mutually beneficial relationship that has existed between the Stanford Group and the people and Government of Antigua and Barbuda.

It should be recalled that the Stanford Group has invested almost EC$160 million in Antigua over the last few years.

I was astonished to hear Mr Spencer complaining that he was "particularly concerned about the announcement that Caribbean Star airlines will be relocating its administrative headquarters from Antigua to St Kitts in 90 days".

I am forced to ask: "Baldwin, is that you?"

Is that the same Baldwin Spencer who frequently attacked Allen Stanford and questioned his investments here? Is that the same Baldwin Spencer who attacked Allen Stanford for his closeness to my administration?

Despite all my long years in politics in which I have become accustomed to two-facedness and bold facedness, even I was shocked by Mr Spencer's hypocrisy.
Let me deal with Mr Stanford's decision to relocate the administrative headquarters of Caribbean Star.

This was not a surprise to my government or me.

Mr Stanford advised me at least thee months ago that he wanted to move Caribbean Star's administrative headquarters to St Kitts.

His reasons for doing so made perfect sense to me, and I did not oppose it. Indeed, to the contrary I encouraged it.

Mr Stanford had explained that there were many, including the same Mr Spencer and the UPP, who were saying that because he had invested so much in Antigua and Antigua alone, he must be "getting something from the government" and that he must be "exerting undue influence on the government".

Many of you will recall a story to this effect in The Wall Street Journal", a story, which was fed to the writer by persons in Antigua not least among whom, was the very Mr Baldwin Spencer.

Mr Stanford told me then that he wanted to spread his investments throughout the Eastern Caribbean and he specifically named St Kitts-Nevis and the British Virgin Islands as among those countries into which he would like to invest if only to show that his investments were not limited to Antigua and not designed to exert undue influence on the government.

Moving the administrative headquarters of Caribbean Star from Antigua to St Kitts also made sense to him because he recognised that LIAT is a competitor with Caribbean Star, and Antigua has been LIAT's traditional home, and the Government of Antigua and Barbuda had obligations to it because of its sizeable number of employees who live here.

I concurred with these arguments presented by Mr Stanford.

I did so particularly because he had indicated that while he was moving the administrative headquarters of Caribbean Star to St Kitts with an investment of EC$25 million, not only would the flight operations and the Engineering Department remain in Antigua, but he was ready to invest a further EC$256 million in various projects here immediately.
Mr Spencer wanted me to "explain to the people of Antigua and Barbuda the real reason why R Allen Stanford, owner and Chairman of Caribbean Star, has made the decision to relocate the airline's administrative headquarters from Antigua to St Kitts".

Well, I have just given you the real reason.

It has absolutely nothing to do with what Mr Spencer went on to imply in his statement.
He said, "it has been widely rumoured that junior Minister of Finance, Senator Asot Michael, had a serious altercation with Mr Stanford, and the relationship with Minister of Aviation Honourable Robin Yearwood, and Mr Stanford over the Caribbean Star/LIAT issue has been severely strained".
Let me now nail the lie to Mr Spencer's insidious reliance on what he calls "rumour". It is a rumour he has himself helped to spread about a "serious altercation" between Senator Michael and Mr Stanford.

There has been no such serious altercation.

Senator Michael has always been supportive of private investment in Antigua and Barbuda, and in particular of the significant investments made by Mr Stanford.
In the course of the negotiations with Mr Stanford's representatives, Senator Michael has been tough.

There is nothing wrong with tough negotiations. When one is negotiating on behalf of a government, one is expected to be fair, but also to be tough in getting the best deal in the interest of the people of the country.

That was simply what Senator Michael did. There was no altercation.

That "rumour", as Mr Spencer calls it, is nothing but a rumour, and it is one that has been fed by Mr Spencer and the UPP.

As for the strained relationship between Mr Stanford and Deputy Prime Minister Robin Yearwood, it has to be recalled that the Minister is a member of the Board of LIAT. He has a fiduciary responsibility as a Board member.

LIAT is a competitor with Caribbean Star. He is expected to defend LIAT's interest.

What would the country's reaction have been, had Minister Yearwood subordinated his responsibilities to LIAT in its competitive stance with Caribbean Star?

We all know that had he done so, the same Baldwin Spencer and the UPP would have pilloried him for selling out LIAT.

In any event, those of you who attended Mr Stanford's press conference yesterday would have heard him say, "I always get along well with the Antigua government in spite of us having differences. There is no hostility, none whatsoever".

The reality is that, as both the Cabinet and the Stanford Financial Group said in a joint public statement yesterday, the Government and people of Antigua and Barbuda and the Stanford Financial Group, led by Mr Stanford, have enjoyed a very satisfactory and mutually beneficial relationship.

In any event, the proof of the pudding is in the eating,

Mr Stanford may be moving the administrative headquarters of Caribbean Star to St Kitts, with my
blessing and concurrence, at an investment cost of EC$25 million, but he is investing a further EC$256 million here bringing his investments to over EC$415 million so far.

We could not want better than that.

Mr Stanford has shown himself to be a fine corporate citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, and we applaud his faith in us as much as we greatly appreciate his readiness to participate fully in our development.

Yesterday, Mr Stanford formally advised the Cabinet of a development that he had privately advised me of since last November.

He proposes to create an investment fund of US$2 billion for development projects in the Caribbean, and to locate the Headquarters of the Fund right here in Antigua.

The Cabinet applauded this outstanding initiative by Mr Stanford and warmly welcomed his proposal.

We did so because we are acutely aware that over the last five years, the Caribbean has been one of the regions of the world that has received the smallest amount of foreign direct investment.
And, this has happened at a time when aid from donor governments and agencies has slowed to a trickle.

We in Antigua will be among the first beneficiaries of these funds as Mr. Stanford invests over EC$256 million in new development projects that are to be executed immediately.

Yesterday, Cabinet approved the projects and a three-man Ministerial team met Mr Stanford's team to finalise the negotiations that have been ongoing over the last two months.
I note that in today's edition of The Daily Observer the front-page headline is "Stanford calls the shots". I assume that the Daily Observer was trying to convey the impression to its readers that Mr Stanford was dictating conditions for his investments to the Government. Indeed, the report stated that Mr Stanford "gave the government an ultimatum".

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As Mr Stanford himself said in his press conference yesterday, " This is not any 'Mr Stanford is going to take his marbles and go home'. This is not even a threat. This is simply a business reality".
Mr Stanford wanted resolution of some outstanding points in negotiations that have been on-going since October of last year. So, too, did the Government.

Yesterday and well into last night, the three-man Ministerial group and Mr Stanford's team met to finalise the negotiations.

Mr Stanford wanted fairness in the way in which the Government handles his projects, and the Government wanted fairness in terms of the benefits to the people and the country.

It is to that objective that the two sides were working, and I understand that agreement has now been reached on the major outstanding points.

I expect the projects to start almost at once. They include the establishment of a retail/entertainment village across from the airport terminal at a cost of EC$40 million, development on Maiden Island at a cost of $135 million, and the completion of an FBO to service private aircraft at a cost of approximately EC$7 million.

The Cabinet welcomed these new investments by the Stanford Group and expressed their appreciation for Mr Stanford's confidence in the people and government of Antigua and Barbuda. Mr Stanford and I agreed to remain in regular contact throughout each stage of the negotiations and implementation of the projects to give them the highest possible oversight.

At the end of the meeting yesterday, both the Cabinet and the Stanford Group expressed pleasure at its constructive and productive outcome, and we described it as a landmark event in the continuing economic development of Antigua and Barbuda.

We have demonstrated that the climate for investment in Antigua and Barbuda continues to be strong and favourable.

You will recall that in decrying this country as he often does, Mr Spencer said that he has investors who have set aside money to invest in Antigua as soon as he forms the Government. But, he is yet to identify one of these fairy godfathers or mothers who are so enamoured with him that they would park millions of dollars earning no return while they wait for him to form a government.

Let me end by thanking Mr Allen Stanford for his determination to play a role in the development of the Eastern Caribbean, and in Antigua and Barbuda in particular for it is here that he has invested the main bulk of his money.

Thank you.