Business View Caribbean - Feb 2024

by promoting foreign inward investment into the six promising sectors, harnessing the power of its abundant sunshine and consistent trade winds to fuel its energy revolution, and leveraging the transformative power of technology to digitize its economy to drive economic growth and enhance public services. In 2020, the Government of Aruba instated the Aruba Investment Agency (ARINA) as part of its strategy to diversify the economy. Like other investment promotion agencies, ARINA is tasked with promoting international visibility of Aruba’s investment opportunities and facilitating the entry of impact investors that are committed to developing real economic activity within Aruba’s six promising sectors, as well as within the cities of Oranjestad and San Nicolas. ATTRACTING IMPACT INVESTORS The ambitious pursuit of impact investments is by no means a small feat, as this is often tied to the value proposition of the country. While Aruba’s market size is relatively small, it has an open, market-driven economy, an efficient legal system, an educated and multilingual workforce, and political stability. In fact, Aruba’s investment climate has ranked first place as the most attractive investment climate in the Caribbean for three consecutive years since 2021 according to the Caribbean Investment Climate Index. Its value proposition towards investors is regionally strong and the Government continues to strengthen it through business-friendly policies and new economic developments. The Minister of Economic Affairs, Communication, and Sustainable Development, Mr. Geoffrey Wever, is committed to ensuring a red- carpet experience for investors willing to contribute to Aruba’s transformation for a stronger and better future. The traditional image of doing business in the Caribbean is no more. Many still need to shake the outdated image of doing business by setting up a tin shack under some palm trees on a remote beach. This image no longer stands for modern-day Aruba. The Aruban economy is, now more than ever, filled with a myriad of profitable activities. From opportunities in agriculture to knowledge-intensive and circular economic activities, the diversification and sustainable and resilient development of Aruba is well underway. Aruba welcomes impact investors with the same warmth it did with its first tourists. EMBRACING CLEAN ENERGY Aruba’s dedication to clean energy is not just about reducing its carbon footprint; it’s also an economic strategy.Aruba aims to become energy-independent, ensuring a stable energy supply while reducing reliance on costly fossil fuels. With a focus on wind and solar power, Aruba is looking to increase its renewable energy share and engender economic growth in a clean and sustainable way. Aruba scores high on the World Bank’s global ranking (#16) for conduciveness for photovoltaic installations. The abundance of sunlight makes it a logical and economical choice to opt for the installation of solar panels. Key initiatives in Aruba’s renewable energy journey include the installation of solar farms and encouraging homeowners and businesses to adopt solar panels.To make the energy transition inclusive for lower-income families, the Government of Aruba is looking into different policy interventions and incentives aimed at making these systems accessible. Besides solar, Aruba’s strong trade winds make it conducive for wind energy generation. Currently, the only source of wind energy in Aruba is the Vader Piet wind farm which adorns Aruba’s south-eastern side with 10 wind turbines which produce approximately 15% of Aruba’s overall annual electricity demand. Aruba is looking to scale wind energy production by adding new, more efficient wind turbines with limited additional space. Aruba is also making significant strides in slashing its fossil fuel use by using more efficient systems for energy generation. HFO use for energy generation has already declined by 31% since 2008 despite the growing population. This will further decline as WEB Aruba (Water and Electricity Company Aruba) transitions to LNG, rendering further energy efficiencies and reduced CO2 footprint. Furthermore, the introduction of new projects by WEB will yield greater efficiencies. 19 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 11, ISSUE 02 THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF ARUB