Updated: Thu, Jul 29th, 2010 4:17pm.
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Investment and Tax Environment

Barbados is an open economy and competes globally in a number of industries.

The most prominent of these are:

  • Agriculture & Fisheries
  • Construction
  • Distribution
  • Energy & Utilities 
  • Financial Services
  • ICT/Communications
  • Manufacturing
  • Professional/Consultancy 
  • Real Estate
  • Services
  • Tourism

The business environment is competitive and investor friendly as evidenced by the following:

  • A legal system based on English common law
  • An independent judiciary ensuring fair and impartial dispute resolution
  • Investment laws that are clear, transparent and modern, providing for easy incorporation and corporate maintenance
  • No restrictions on foreign ownership of business enterprises
  • An expanding network of Double Taxation Agreements and Bilateral Investment Treaties
  • A range of special incentive entities for conducting international business
  • An International Business Customer Charter detailing the commitments of regulatory agencies to provide swift, efficient and professional service to the international business sector
  • Prudent regulatory environment that meets or exceeds international best practices
  • Represented in main international financial organisations including the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors, the International Association of Insurance Supervisors and the International Organisation of Securities Commissions
  • Member of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force and regarded by anti-money laundering agencies as a clean and well-regulated domicile
  • On April 2nd 2009 the OECD Global Forum published a list of countries categorized by reference to their compliance with the Forum's international tax standard of exchange of tax information. Barbados is prominently featured on the list of countries that have satisfied assessors of having substantially implemented the requirements of the internationally agreed tax standard. The only other countries in the Americas that made the list are Argentina, Canada, Mexico and USA/USVI.
  • Barbados is the highest ranked Caribbean Country by the World Economic Forum in their Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010. The report gauges how 133 economies around the world are prepared to use ICT effectively, determined on three dimensions: the general business, regulatory and infrastructure environment for ICT; the readiness of individuals, businesses and governments to use and benefit from ICT; and actual use of the latest information and communications technologies. Data is derived from publicly available sources and an executive opinion survey conducted by leading research institutes and business organisations within the countries under analysis. In total, 27 hard data indicators, including utility patents, mobile phone use and bandwidth available, are combined with 41 survey indicators to give the overall network readiness index score. Barbados is ranked 35th globally while in Latin America and the Caribbean it is ranked third after the USA and Canada,ahead of Chile (40), Puerto Rico (45), Jamaica (66), Costa Rica (49) and Brazil (61) Mexico(78) Argentina(91).
  • The World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report 2008 -2009 ranks Barbados 5th in the Americas after USA, Canada, Chile and Puerto Rico and 47th in the world. The ranking is based on a Global Competitiveness Index constructed from 12 pillars of competitiveness, providing a comprehensive picture of the competitiveness landscape in countries around the world at all stages of development. The pillars include: Institutions, Infrastructure, Macroeconomic Stability, Health and Primary Education, Higher Education and Training, Goods Market Efficiency, Labour Market Efficiency, Financial Market Sophistication, Technological Readiness, Market Size, Business Sophistication and Innovation.

Articles

Minister of International Business, George Hutson and Panamanian Vice-President Juan Carlos Varela

Barbados And Panama Sign Double Taxation Agreement

Jun 24, 2010
By Theresa Blackman 

Barbados and Panama will now have the opportunity to build stronger political and economic partnerships, thanks to the signing of a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA). The signing took place last Monday at the Hilton Barbados with Panamanian Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Juan Carlos Varela coming to the island for the ceremony. The tax agreement not only seeks to enhance trading and investment opportunities between private sector participants but will also provide new scope for the movement of professors, teachers, artisans and sportspersons between the two countries.

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Bruce Zagaris

The Caribbean: 2009 Year in Review

Bruce Zagaris provides an overview of some of the most important tax developments in the Caribbean in 2009.
Dec 23, 2009
Bruce Zagaris 

Most of the Caribbean jurisdictions with strong international financial service sectors spent significant resources responding to international financial regulatory initiatives in 2009, particularly the OECD progress report issued in April. That report put many jurisdictions on the gray list for not having the requisite 12 tax information exchange agreements.

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Mr. Keith Miller

Close Brothers

Dec 10, 2009
Keith Miller 

Close Brothers Group Plc, which ranks in the Top 200 listed companies in the United Kingdom, is the oldest, independent merchant bank currently listed on the London Stock Exchange. Founded by William Brooks Close in 1878, Close Brothers Group Plc has a long and distinguished history, generally characterised by an innovative, entrepreneurial approach to the provision of financial services. Over the course of time, Close has established a strong reputation for independence and integrity and the company has successfully established market leadership in several specialist areas.

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Ben Arrindell

Barbados as a Regional Hub for Corporate Headquarters

Dec 02, 2009
Ben Arrindell 

Once again international tax policy seems to be focused on offshore financial centres (OFCs) and international investors, particularly multinationals with widespread business interests globally, are questioning the ability of such centres to survive the current attacks. The general consensus seems to be that these initiatives will result in a flight to quality and that when the dust settles, the OFCs that will still be in existence will be those that cater to substantive businesses. Barbados is one such jurisdiction.

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Maria Robinson and Gail Ifill

Barbados and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

Dec 02, 2009
Maria Robinson, Gail Ifill 

Barbados' focus on increasing its export of financial services commenced as a means of diversifying the Barbados economy when it became evident that the tourism sector alone could not be depended on to sustain the economy. Many other developing and developed economies took similar steps leading to the establishment of many offshore financial centres worldwide.

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