News item | 5/16/2023 | 11:13
The Netherlands makes investment programs available for the countries of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten and for the Caribbean Netherlands: Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius. The investments should lead to the economic growth potential being strengthened, the financial and economic independence of the six islands increasing, the energy transition accelerating and the standard of living and employment improving. With this, the Cabinet is implementing one of the agreements from the coalition agreement.
Investment program Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten
To contribute to the economic development of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten, the Netherlands reserves a maximum of 200 million euros in total from the National Growth Fund (NGF). To qualify for the funds, the Countries can submit projects that demonstrably have a high impact on the sustainable earning capacity of the Countries. The condition is that the proposals are of good quality for projects in the field of climate adaptation and energy transition, education, digitization of the government, basic infrastructure (logistics infrastructure, water treatment and waste processing), cost-efficient food production and making the economy more sustainable (tourism in particular). Initially, a tranche of EUR 100 million will be made available. Should this opening be overwritten with high-quality proposals that meet guarantees and criteria to be determined, a second opening of a maximum of 100 million euros is possible. The investment program will be worked out in the coming months after consultation with the Countries.
Energy transition and guarantee scheme
To stimulate the energy transition in Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten, SDE resources (Stimulation of Sustainable Energy Production and Climate Transition) can be reserved to invest in one or a few cost-effective projects. . These are projects that should make a substantial contribution to the energy transition of the countries. TNO will start a study in the summer to map out to what extent projects are possible for stimulating sustainable energy production and/or CO2 reduction. This involves, for example, increasing the capacity of solar and wind energy so that a large part of electricity production can take place sustainably, and at lower costs for companies and consumers. This also makes the production and export of hydrogen more interesting.
Finally, the government is developing a tailor-made guarantee scheme to stimulate lending to healthy companies in Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten. Guarantee schemes help companies with insufficient collateral to obtain financing. At the moment, such arrangements are expected to be lacking in Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten. Unlike in the Netherlands, the guarantee scheme is also open to companies from, for example, agriculture and fisheries. This is necessary because the islands are still very dependent on imports from outside for fresh fruit and vegetables.
Caribbean Netherlands
As the Caribbean Netherlands, Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius are already eligible for resources from both the National Growth Fund and the SDE and a guarantee scheme. To improve access to the subsidy schemes and the guarantee scheme, tailor-made solutions are provided for these islands.
The government is therefore releasing 30 million euros from the NGF for the Caribbean Netherlands and is developing a separate program to strengthen the sustainable earning capacity of the Caribbean Netherlands. Because Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, like the Countries, have a fragile economic structure that is highly dependent on tourism and imports, the themes for this investment program for the Caribbean Netherlands will be comparable to those for Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten.
In September last year, € 33.6 million was made available for the Caribbean Netherlands from the SDE resources and the Regio Enveloppe. Custom-made projects are already being carried out with this to make energy generation more sustainable. At the moment, a new solar park is being built on Bonaire with more than 10,000 solar panels, good for 5,000 households.
Companies in CN currently make little use of the Borgstelling MKB-kredieten (BMKB), despite the fact that the scheme has been adapted to the local context and demand. Together with the Public Entities, this guarantee scheme will be brought more to the attention of companies and banking and non-bank financiers. This can increase lending to local businesses, enabling them to invest more.
Follow-up
In the coming months, the three programs for the countries of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten will be further elaborated and more tailor-made solutions will be developed for the Caribbean Netherlands. Before the summer, talks will be started with the Countries and the Caribbean Netherlands to discuss the substantive frameworks of the three instruments. It will also be examined how the Countries and the Caribbean Netherlands can be effectively supported in the development and implementation of projects.