Cabinet has approved the establishment of a Cayman Islands
Government Asia Office based in Singapore.

The office will be headed by the Government’s Overseas
Representative to Asia, Gene DaCosta. After the required
administrative filings have been completed, the office is expected
to have a physical presence in the final quarter of this year.

Minister for Financial Services and Commerce, André
Ebanks, noted in a press release the Asia office would promote all
facets of the Cayman Islands, including, among other matters:

• establishing and nurturing strong public and private sector
  relations;




• creating effective communication between the Cayman Islands and
  key countries in Asia; and




• advancing financial services interests as well as all other
  areas of strategic interest to the Cayman Islands and generally
  enhancing the reputation of the Cayman Islands.

“The office will enhance the business development efforts
of the Cayman Islands’ financial services industry in the
region and better capitalise on the many new business opportunities
for the Cayman Islands that the Asian region has to offer,” he
said.

“Singapore provides a relatively neutral position in the
region, with very good flight connections from which to launch
business development efforts across Asia; a strong concentration of
financial services firms, as well as a thriving maritime centre
that has a synergy with the activities of our Maritime
Authority.”

DaCosta emphasised the efforts the Asia Office will make to
develop and maintain strategic relationships in Asian jurisdictions
such as Hong Kong.

He said, “Having the office based in Singapore allows the
Cayman Islands Government the ability to quickly and effectively
provide the necessary support our stakeholders in the region may
require from time to time.

“Indeed, Hong Kong is a particularly important locale for
us as it has longstanding, strong business relationships to Cayman.
I’m expecting to have frequent in-person meetings in Hong Kong
(likely quarterly visits at a minimum), alongside those that will
occur in Singapore and other jurisdictions in Asia,” DaCosta
added.

Cayman Finance CEO Steve McIntosh said, “The announcement
today that Cayman is to establish a permanent representative office
in Asia is extremely significant and comes as most welcome news to
Cayman Finance and our members.”

McIntosh noted that over the last decade, Asia has become an
increasingly important market for many of our world class financial
products and service providers, representing more than US$1
trillion under management and US$450 billion of portfolio assets in
the funds sector alone.

“We congratulate Mr Gene DaCosta and look forward to
working closely with him in our work protecting and promoting the
Cayman Islands financial sector.”

The Cayman Islands Government Asia Office will be the latest
public sector overseas office, with government having a physical
presence in London for decades and most recently in Washington, DC
as of December 2022. Tasha Ebanks-Garcia heads up the London office
while Chris Duggan is in charge of the North America Office.

Both the North America and Asia offices are under the remit of
the Ministry of Financial Services and Commerce. Duggan said that
since January of this year, his Washington engagements have yielded
important governmental and private sector connections.

“We’ve implemented an extensive public and private
sector engagement plan that has been successful in establishing and
developing relationships with relevant congressional committees in
DC, as well as in strengthening ties with relevant stakeholders
within a number of key United States Government
departments/agencies,” Duggan said. “The Minister, as
part of his ongoing commitment to this mission, plans to travel
again to Washington later this year to meet with key personnel from
within these agencies and engage with key private sector
stakeholders.”

Minister Ebanks reiterated the importance of the overseas
offices in terms of advancing the country’s interests and
supporting Caymanians overseas.

“Our comprehensive and considered approach to establishing
overseas offices have and will continue to underpin the strong
links between Cayman and our key business regions, in this case
Asia and North America. As they cultivate their operations, the
offices shall promote our country’s interests, initiatives and
support, where appropriate, Caymanians residing overseas in these
respective regions,” Minister Ebanks said.

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