Canadian ministers praise BDA delegation
Ministers from the Canadian government praised a series of events organised by the Bermuda Development Agency (BDA) designed to spell out the benefits of establishing captive insurance companies and e-commerce entities in Bermuda.
A 20-strong delegation from the Island delivered the message to well-attended sessions in Toronto on May 5 and Calgary on May 6 for invited guests interested in finding out about setting up in the jurisdiction.
“Our working relationship with Bermuda’s regulator and business community was once again reinforced by the depth and professionalism displayed by the Bermuda delegation in Toronto and Calgary,” said Economic Development Minister Dr Grant Gibbons, who led the dual-city roadshow and gave opening remarks at each session.
“The Canadian retail and corporate market heard first-hand a very powerful Bermuda message. We are pleased to have worked with the BDA on this initiative, and look forward to seeing an increased flow of business from Canada.”
Bermuda has been of growing interest to Canadian corporations following the June 2010 signing of the Canada-Bermuda Tax Information and Exchange Agreement (TIEA), which allows Bermuda subsidiaries of certain Canadian corporations with international operations to be eligible for Canadian tax benefits, including the tax-free repatriation of certain dividends to Canada.
The forums featured an opening plenary session, moderated by BDA CEO Ross Webber with Dr Gibbons and Michael Horgan, a former deputy minister of finance for the Canadian government, as panellists. Separate sessions addressed the benefits of establishing both captive insurance companies and e-commerce entities in Bermuda.
“We had standing-room-only for the session held at Toronto’s Trump International Hotel on Tuesday morning—we adjusted our configuration after that! The sessions were very well attended,” said Webber. “It was encouraging to see the keen interest the audience had for both our captive insurance and e-commerce offerings.”
The delegation has already picked up several promising leads as a result of the mission, with industry practitioners in continuing dialogue with several of the prospects who attended.
“This initiative is being implemented according to our agreed strategy of finitely targeting regions, sectors and audiences. We deliberately showcased actual case study examples. This is highly persuasive for those who are on the fence,” Webber added. “We are following up on the interest we have generated here to help prospective companies set up physical operations that equate to real jobs for Bermudians.”
