nov-2017c

78 79 DAVID BURT Premier of Bermuda A CONVERSATION WITH T his past July, after his Progressive Labor Party (PLP) won 24 out of 36 seats in the Parliamentary election,David Burt was sworn in as Bermuda’s new Pre- mier.At age 38, Burt is the youngest person to ever hold the office. Burt attended the George Washington University inWashington,D.C., dou- ble majoring in finance and information systems and attained a Master’s Degree in information systems technologies. During his time at GWU, he also served as president of the George Washing- ton University Student Association.He is married and has two young children. Recently, Business ViewMagazine spoke with Premier Burt about his electoral victory and his plans for his administration.The following is an edited transcript of that conversation. BVM: What is the job of the Premier? Burt: “The Premier is the leader of the govern- ment, so the Premier runs the cabinet–myself and ten other cabinet ministers.We’re the ones who have the responsibility for government. There is not any particular limit on the items we can do.We control the Parliamentarymajority, so we have the ability to make change and pass DAVID BURT – PREMIER OF BERMUDA The message is that Bermuda is open for business; we welcome business coming here. We want to maintain our reputation as a well-regarded, international finance jurisdiction and we’re going to continue to burnish our credentials in that regard.