Isle Of Man Economic Strategy To Go Before Tynwald

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

11 October 2004

Isle of Man Treasury Minister Alan Bell is urging the Manx parliament, Tynwald, to approve the government’s revised Economic Strategy, which has been refined after a further period of consultation.

According to the Treasury, the Strategy focuses heavily on improving economic efficiency and productivity by accessing new markets, producing higher value goods and services, and making the most of the local labour force through education and training.

The Strategy also considers the economic realities of the Island’s position, including its small size, dependence on export success and scarcity of natural resources, and provides a framework in which the economy and living standards can continue to grow whilst containing the need for additional labour from off the Island.

Welcoming the document, Treasury Minister Allan Bell is hopeful that it will meet Tynwald’s approval when put before members later this month:

“For the first time we have a document that can be presented as a statement of how Government wishes the economy to develop and how it plans to try and ensure such development occurs,” he stated.

“It is a strategy that reflects a certain confidence in the future of the Island but which also underlines that we all have to keep working at improving upon those things which provide a competitive edge,” Mr Bell observed.

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