Mediaboss Marketing

30 May 2012

The Isle of Mans Chief Minister Allan Bell recently held meetings with members of the Jersey and Guernsey governments to increase cooperation in areas of mutual interest and concern..

Bell met the recently-elected Chief Minister of Jersey, Ian Gorst, and Guernseys new Chief Minister, Peter Harwood, along with the islands deputy Chief Ministers and Treasury Ministers.

Ahead of his meetings, Bell noted that: "Whilst the Isle of Man and Channel Islands are often rivals in terms of competing for new business, there are also opportunities for us to work together for our mutual benefit.

Topics discussed at the meetings included the financial challenges facing each of the territories, policies for economic growth, and international developments, including in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Each of the three Crown Dependencies have been affected recently by changes in European rules on business taxation, which has triggered each of the territories to repeal, or schedule the repeal, of their tax regimes deemed distribution provisions. In addition, Jersey and Guernsey have recently suffered from the UK government's decision to revoke low-value consignment relief, a longstanding value-added tax concession on low value goods imported to the United Kingdom.

In comments ahead of the meetings, Bell said: [With the appointment of new Chief Ministers in each of the territories in the last twelve months] this is a new political era for the Crown Dependencies.

This weeks visits will provide an opportunity for me to strike up a personal rapport with both Harwood and Gorst, and deepen our understanding of each others priorities and aspirations. We are all experiencing similar challenges in terms of rebalancing our budgets and stimulating economic growth, and I am sure that our discussions around these common issues will be very positive and productive.

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Crown Depedencies Summit Held