In a novel move, the Investment Migration Agency Grenada (IMA Grenada), has teamed up with Arton Capital, and Forbes Global Talent to offer handpicked high net worth individuals (HNWI’s) the opportunity to invest in Grenada’s citizenship and provide ongoing advisory to Grenada’s Prime Minister.

The initiative called Citizenship by Invitation, invites change-makers on Forbes’ billionaire list, who have expertise in areas of interest to Grenada, to apply for citizenship and become advisors to Grenada’s policy makers.  The economic advisory role, achieved upon their naturalization, is not considered a special appointment and does not come with a diplomatic passport. As an incentive to apply for citizenship, these specially invited individuals will benefit from priority processing of their applications, as applications will be processed in a minimum of three to four months.

Processing time aside, the true value proposition of the initiative, inferred its brainchild – Armand Arton, founder and president of Arton Capital – is the value HNWIs achieve from being able to engage with the Prime Minister and impact the policies and future of the country. “I can think of Elon Musk, who would love to make America great again and contribute to it,” said Arton. “So many other people, for much less than $20 million, can have that opportunity right here with Grenada.”

On hand to introduce the initiative with Arton, at Arton Capital’s Global Citizen Forum in Dubai, on December 5, was Thomas Anthony, the Chief Executive Officer of IMA Grenada. Anthony, who publicly expressed his support for the initiative, believes it is a proactive approach to helping Grenada achieve its developmental goals.

“It’s really about having access. Access to individuals with the mind, with the experience, with the expertise, with the network, with the net worth to be able to identify opportunities, develop in tandem with government project documents, and then move to implementation in those particular areas we’d like to see investment.”

According to Thomas, the present practice is for developers to present their own projects for development. However, there’s an increasing desire by their office and the government to adopt a more hands-on approach by identifying areas that should receive CBI funds, creating associated projects and then soliciting partners to bring those projects to reality. It is his hope that the Citizenship by Invitation Initiative will facilitate this.

Addressing the issue of prioritizing applications and the integrity of Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment programme, Anthony reaffirmed his Agency’s commitment to upholding its existing due diligence standards. “I think it’s important to emphasize that there is no special treatment beyond being prioritized. So not a fast track, not engaging in KYC or due diligence that would be less than our regular standard; but merely prioritizing the applications, putting them to the top to make sure that they are processed within a reasonable period of time,”

It is the hope that the initiative will help diversify the source markets for Grenada’s programme. This year, most of the applicants have come from China, Nigeria, Ukraine and the USA. Through the help of Forbes Global Talent, and its executive search team, specific individuals in key markets will be invited to apply to Grenada’s programme.