Within hours of the Gibraltar Government’s ministerial reshuffle on Monday, Albert Isola, the new Minister for Digital and Financial Services, was on his way to London to present Gibraltar’s case at the 15th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (“WCEC”). The Convention took place at the ExCel Conference Centre in London on Tuesday 22 October 2019. The session was opened by the UK’s Secretary of State for International Trade, the Rt. Hon. Liz Truss.
WCEC is held every two years, and 2019 being its 30th anniversary. In its 30 year history, the Convention has never before been held in Europe and the organisers had been expecting 3,000 Chinese businessmen to attend the Convention from Mainland China, the United Kingdom and other parts of the globe. Many highly successful Chinese entrepreneurs travelled to London to participate in the three day event.
Mr Isola gave a presentation on Gibraltar as a gateway for Chinese entrepreneurs on the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative. He illustrated the great success that Gibraltar has had in insurance, online gambling and, more recently, in attracting fintech businesses to establish on the Rock.
Minister Isola stated; “It was an honour to have been asked to participate in the Convention with so many distinguished speakers from China and the United Kingdom. As we appear to be approaching an end to the Brexit process it was an ideal opportunity to set out Gibraltar’s unique position as a gateway to the United Kingdom and to facilitate increased trade between China the world’s second largest economy and the UK the fifth largest economy. I have been travelling to China on a regular basis over the last three years and I remain firmly of the view that there are significant opportunities for Gibraltar to facilitate and benefit from stronger commercial ties with China. This Government’s aim is to both secure more investment from Chinese entrepreneurs in Gibraltar particularly in our digital economy and to channel some of the future investment from China into the UK via Gibraltar.”
With the Chinese President’s endorsement of blockchain technology triggering a swell of interest in adoption of this technology in China, the Mr Isola’s presentation may well have been auspiciously timed.
