Foreword

Welcome to Barbados International Finance & Business 2024, now in our 16^th year of publication.

Barbados started to emerge as a Global Business Centre (GBC) in the 1980's. Initially the focus was on providing a domicile for Canadian-parented companies wishing to become internationally more competitive. Barbados' location with a similar time zone to the US East Coast, English language, legal and tax regimes based on English common law, have allowed the domicile to grow. This growth led to the establishment of the Barbados Financial Services Commission focusing on legislation and regulation in a changing global landscape, together with Invest Barbados, whose role is to promote Barbados as a GBC, functioning as the interface between the Government and the 'gate keepers' who advise investors on the domicile of choice.