At the end of this year the heads of the Commonwealth countries will meet in Malta. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent and equal sovereign states, with a combined population of more than 2.2 billion citizens. It is an anachronism perhaps, but one that survives because it serves a genuine purpose, allowing countries of all shapes and sizes to discuss their issues and concerns in a friendly setting.

Its origins date back to 1887, when the first Colonial and Imperial meeting was held in London on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. This year's meeting in November is likely to be on a less grand scale, but among other things will appoint a new secretary general and feature a business forum that will discuss economic matters, including the sustainability of small islands.

I strongly believe that the islands of the Caribbean should work more closely together to further their economic interests.
St. Kitts & Nevis, the country of which I have recently been elected prime minister and which is proud to be part of the Commonwealth, is very much open for investment by the private sector. When the world's financial system crashed in 2008, small islands of the Caribbean were hit as if by a hurricane. Tourism and real estate investment, the mainstays of our economy ever since the production of sugar was halted in 2005, declined dramatically.

A clever initiative came to our rescue. Citizenship by investment is a program that encourages investment in a country. In return, assuming all the due diligence procedures are met, the investor can apply for citizenship of the country. Many people around the world, through no fault of their own, live in countries from where it is difficult to travel. Citizenship of St. Kitts & Nevis gives visa free access to more than 140 countries, including the United Kingdom, Brazil and Germany.

However, our citizenship program was dealt a heavy blow to its reputation when Iranian sanction evaders began travelling with a St. Kitts & Nevis passport. Some even had diplomatic passports. This raised the eyebrow of the U.S. and Canadian authorities, among others.

Eventually last year, the Canadian authorities put an end to the visa-free access our citizens had enjoyed for decades.
As the new prime minister of St. Kitts & Nevis, I have made a number of guarantees to restore the legitimacy of the program:

o To our partner governments across the world, I pledge my word that no undesirables will be allowed to take advantage of our program. We shall work actively with you to make this happen. We shall not issue any diplomatic passports to people who are neither citizens nor residents of St. Kitts & Nevis.

Our reputation is not for sale at any price. We shall be revoking any passports that were issued fraudulently. We will not allow our good name to be traduced. Anybody who made false claims or provided us with misleading information at the time of making the application will have their citizenship revoked. We are very serious about this.

o To genuine investors, we welcome your interest and investment in our beautiful islands. We are working hard to ensure that the procedure becomes more efficient and transparent. IPSA International, a consultancy that specializes in due diligence and risk management and works for many governments around the world, made 20 recommendations to us on how to improve the program, including such measures as establishing a commission for the oversight of the Citizenship by Investment Program; reviewing the regulations for the establishment of escrow accounts and amending the policies accordingly; and conducting a "look back" of approved and reviewed applications, as well as conducting periodic reviews of approved applicants thereafter.

My government is adopting all these 20 recommendations with immediate effect.

o To developers who are creating projects that will bring employment and investment to our country, we say: "You are most welcome".

We understand that citizenship by investment is a useful source of income. Legitimate developers who create a positive economic impact on our islands will continue to enjoy the benefits of the program as a funding source.

Tourism is a great source of income for this country, and we have a shortage of hotel beds. However, we are looking carefully at those projects that are only benefitting the individuals who are building empty boxes. Not only is this of no benefit to the citizens of St. Kitts & Nevis, but also it has a negative impact on the beauty of the landscape and we shall be reviewing some of the schemes that are being proposed.

Genuine developers need have no concerns. In fact we shall work tirelessly to ensure projects proceed in a timely manner.
These are the suggestions that I shall make to my Caribbean colleagues when we meet to discuss citizenship by investment next week in St. Kitts. And it is with these concerns, and in this spirit, that we shall journey to Malta in November.

I think most countries appreciate that genuine investment is a necessity these days. Globalization is not something that is going to go away. In the same vein, responsible citizenship-by-investment programmes only help to encourage this trend.

o Dr. Timothy Harris is the prime minister of St. Kitts & Nevis, one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean and a proud member of the Commonwealth.

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