SIMPSON BAY--St. Maarten Hospitality and Trade Association (SHTA) launched its “Vision St. Maarten 2025” at its recent annual general meeting (AGM) held in Simpson Bay Beach Resort. The vision includes advice for recovery spending and policy, and is based on the premise of working together toward a common goal of quality of life for all.
The vision was created during the year through membership enquiry and workshops. It presents the association’s goal of reaching quality of life for all residents, and doing so by providing good governance, creating a healthy and beautiful island as well as a thriving and sustainable economy – “All things the country lacks at the moment, as indicated in the scenario Declining Present,” said SHTA.
As priority action points, SHTA advised the country’s leaders to provide leadership through the challenging times ahead and to strengthen environmental laws with enforcement, most urgently those involving the dump and waste management. Further urgent requests include a provision for tax relief, fiscal policy reform and fixing the airport – without which the entire economy will grind to a halt.
“Vision St. Maarten 2025” is available for download at SHTA.com/Viison-2025.
The vision’s launch served as a prelude to speeches by Prime Minister Leona Romeo-Marlin and Dutch Windward Islands Recovery Programme Director-General Hans Leijtens.
The Prime Minister said to gathered members of business community: “The ultimate purpose of the recovery process is to restore hope for the future – a future that builds on the past, but that recognises that more needs to be done now, together, to build back our island better.”
Leijtens implied that given the support from the Netherlands via the World Bank-administered recovery trust fund, tools for realising many visions are in place, according to SHTA. “What happens next is in the hands of St. Maarten now,” SHTA quoted Leijtens as saying.
In addition to the keynote speakers and SHTA membership, SHTA invited some strategic partners and distinguished guests, including Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Cornelius de Weever and St. Maarten Tourist Bureau Director May-Ling Chun
The AGM also served as a platform for the association’s board to provide an update on the activities in the past year.
