Cayman Islands Forms E-Commerce Advisory Board

Tax-news.com

31 January 2000

The Cayman Islands want to join the leading group of offshore jurisdictions making the running on e-commerce, and has formed an Advisory Board with members from the public and private sectors in order to push through the necessary legislative and infrastructural measures as quickly as possible.

The massive Caymans finance sector well understands that it must be able to deliver state-of-the-art e-commerce transaction capabilities if it is to retain its position long term.

Cable and Wireless, which provides most Caribbean telecommunications, has suffered from capacity constraints in the region, and may not have moved as quickly as it might have done to create the necessary telecommunications infrastructure. However, C & W now claims that its systems will be fully capable and will have ample capacity by mid-2000. The company also reduced charges sharply in 1999 for Internet connection.

The Cayman Islands are six months or more behind Bermuda, Jersey, and the Isle of Man, but could still catch up if they move quickly enough; and Cayman has the advantage of being close to the vital North American markets if it can deliver the (virtual) goods on time.

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