Guernsey "has enhanced its reputation" on the world stage

Thursday 11 June 2020

Two senior Deputies have explained why they believe Guernsey's economy can prosper post-pandemic and the industries they think will benefit most from the island's management of the crisis.

Policy & Resource President Gavin St Pier and Economic Development President Charles Parkinson set out how Guernsey's success to date in handling the pandemic has advertised Guernsey to the rest of the world.

"Guernsey has acquired a national and international reputation for being a competent stable jurisdiction during this pandemic and we can build on that," said Deputy Parkinson. "It provides us with the opportunity to present ourselves as a safe haven for various forms of international business including, perhaps, medical technology, because the pandemic has been handled extremely well in Guernsey.

"We had MedTech as a line in our Economic Development strategy but frankly haven’t really made much progress in terms of developing that as an idea, but now I think the pandemic could be a springboard into further developments in that area.

"Not only have we managed the health crisis very well but actually Guernsey companies contributed significantly to the recovery in the UK. A lot of respirators in UK hospitals have control boards that were made in Guernsey, in many cases the breathing masks that are used in UK hospitals were supplied by Guernsey companies, so let’s see what we can build out of this and maybe build a stronger medical technology sector."

Pictured: LocateGuernsey, whose director Jo Stoddart is pictured, has seen an increase in enquiries from potential new residents in recent weeks.

Deputy St Pier said it was good news for the economy that financial services, which make up a central plank of Guernsey's industry, are set to benefit from events around the world.

"The fact that the global policy response from government across the world has been massive economic stimulus, and central banks have massively used quantitative easing, effectively the printing of money, all of that is ultimately good for financial services and for providers of financial services products," he said. 

"Injecting all of that money into the system it has to flow through and Guernsey is very much part of the global capital markets."

Deputy St Pier said it was notable that governments around the world are talking about green finance and a 'green recovery', which figures well alongside Guernsey's burgeoning interest in this area. 

"In the last two years we have been talking about the development of green finance to support governments around the world in achieving those objectives."

Pictured: Deputy Gavin St Pier said the island is well-positioned to 'revive and thrive' in the years to come.

The strategy documents set out some of the over-arching objectives of the States' recovery plans. 

"The Strategy has at its core the ambition not just of restoring the majority of economic activity in 2021, but also promoting sufficient economic growth to exceed the previous growth path for the economy within three years," it states. 

"Achieving this ambition will require employers to be able to re-employ the majority of staff and have access to sufficient liquidity to invest in recovery. Our ambition is to consider fiscal stimulus - primarily around construction, financial and professional services and information and communication services."

Pictured top: Deputy Charles Parkinson.