Newly installed Chairman of CARICOM and St. Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has confirmed that CARICOM heads did not collectively address the Citizen By Investment (CBI) program when they met in St. Lucia from July 5th – 8th, 2026 for the 51st Regular Meeting of CARICOM Heads.
The explanation from the chairman focused on the fact that the CBI issue primarily concerned the five nations with active CBI programs, namely St. Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, Antigua and St. Kitts and Nevis. The CARICOM Chairman further explained that all requirements from the United and European Union has been met. “We’ve been trying our best to follow best practice, we’ve been trying our best to ensure that all the requirements that we are asked for we’ve met. The latest requirement is that we have a unified regulatory body, we’ve done that through the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank. All the due diligence procedures that we are asked to do we take these steps, but each country has a right to impose its own domestic policy and we are in no position to tell anybody what to do as far as their domestic policy is concerned.”
Chairman Pierre emphasized that even while the region follows all guidelines it is still the prerogative of Europe to set their own policy. Pierre recalls the treatment the region suffered as it relates to the banana industry and the sugar cane industry before that.
Pierre was responding to a question that highlighted the EU’s deadline for the region to cease CBI operations by June 1, 2028 or face further visa restrictions.
While the CARICOM Chairman did not address the question concerning the annual financial draw of the regional CBI programs, the individual territories have lauded the input from the programs and its influence on regional economies particularly through national infrastructure initiatives.