Grenada cautious about US$2.5b investment proposal

A senior official of a Korean investment company promising to pump billions of dollars into selected government projects says there is nothing sinister about the decision to invest in Grenada, a country of some 105,000 people.

SuWang One World's regional director of funding, Antonio Bailey, was reacting to widespread public speculation as to the reasons behind the US$2.5-billion investment that is pending the signing of an agreement with the company by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas.

Finance Minister Nazim Burke has confirmed that talks were taking place with the company after local officials accused the Thomas government of dragging its feet on finalising the deal.

But Burke said the government has adopted a cautious approach to the project and has already made a number of changes to an initial agreement the two parties were preparing to sign.

"We continue to do our due diligence with respect to this company and persons. We have been asked to sign an agreement. We are not satisfied that the agreement, in its existing form, would meet Grenada's needs," Burke told reporters.

Bailey said SuWang has nothing to hide.

"We are in a position to take advantage of an opportunity where somebody is saying, 'I am bringing money into your country.' Not you are giving me some guarantee. There is nothing grey about this," he said during a television interview broadcast in Grenada on Monday night.

"I am not seeking publicity. I just want people to know that what's going on is positive and the opportunity is here and I want Grenadians to feel good about themselves and take advantage of it."

In May, Thomas signed an initial memorandum of understanding after meeting with a visiting delegation from Suwang here and last week, two government officials signed an 'aide-memoire', or negotiating text, after a visit to Taiwan to hold further talks with company officials.

Burke said that the money would be used to fund a list of state projects, including the airport and hospital.

Burke said the proposal has since been amended and resubmitted to SuWang One World following separate meetings in St George's and Taiwan where a memorandum of understanding and an aide-memoire were signed.

The investment proposal has been a subject of national debate and was scheduled to be a key subject of discussion during a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday.

"They are not looking for your money. They have money. This is completely diametrically opposed to all of the other so-called investors that were brought to this country prior to this," Bailey said on the television programme.

"We are still asking what we did to deserve all that good fortune. The government is in shock because we did all of the work. It's more than $2 billion, it's probably more like five."

Bailey said Grenada has been chosen as headquarters of a regional development fund for projects in other parts of the Caribbean, including Guyana and Jamaica.

"We met with the prime minister of Guyana and they are very excited and ready to go with some of the projects such as the hydroelectric projects, and so forth," Bailey said.

"You have to move forward, because other countries like Sri Lanka are right behind us, and if we are not taking this money, Sri Lanka will."

- CMC