(PLTM) - Deputy Premier and Minister for Financial Services, Labour, and Trade, Hon. Lorna Smith has told a Guyana media house that the Government is considering lifting visa requirements for Guyanese and believes it will happen soon.
Several years ago, the BVI instituted visa requirements for Guyanese, a move that served to limit the influx of Guyanese workers to the BVI shores.
However, with Hon. Smith in Guyana leading a 16-member delegation to discuss business opportunities, the move to ease visa restrictions could be seen as the BVI seeking to work more closely with Guyana, which is swiftly becoming an investment hub fueled by the oil and gas sector.
Guyanese account for one of the largest migrant populations in the BVI, according to the last census data.
In an interview with Guyana's News Room on Thursday, Hon. Smith said, “I have been authorized to say that the BVI is considering lifting that (visa) requirement and I expect it to happen very soon."
“If we are serious about doing business with Guyana and a partnership with Guyana that is the first thing that has to be lifted,” Smith said during the candid interview.
She is sure it is something that will happen in short order, flowing from the removal of the visa requirement last year by the United Kingdom.
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