The Cayman Islands are home to the world's super-rich.

Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong's richest man for the past seventeen years with a rumored personal fortune of $33 billion, shocked analysts by announcing the restructuring of his massive business empire at the start of 2015. His plans call for his two firms, Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchinson Whampoa, to merge all non-property properties. qatar real estate

Ports, retail, oil, infrastructure, land, and mobile networks are all part of Hutchison Whampoa's portfolio. Li also manages a real estate portfolio that includes residential and commercial properties, as well as hotels and industrial space, through Cheung Kong Holdings, his publicly traded investment firm.

 

They'll continue to do business in Hong Kong, so they'll now be incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

According to analysts, moving the majority of his vast wealth from Hong Kong to the little-known Caribbean tax haven would increase transparency, and shares in Li's companies instantly increased by 14% after the announcement.

As markets roared their approval of his reorganization, the news was received favorably in the Cayman Islands, nine thousand miles away. Grand Cayman, the largest of the three islands in the northern Caribbean chain, is already home to more than 40% of Hong Kong-listed firms, and this public support by one of Asia's wealthiest men adds to its legitimacy in offshore financial circles.

 

Investment by a Billionaire

"Hollywood has generated the picture of people hiding money in the Cayman Islands, but if you think this is the place to hide your ill-gotten profits, consider opening a bank account here," says Nick Joseph, a Cayman Islands attorney. "Opening one in Switzerland takes a lot longer and needs a lot more background checks. Cayman is regarded as a secure and respectable jurisdiction by critical, competent circles."

Ken Dart, a billionaire, has already made a significant investment in the Cayman Islands. The Michigan-born businessman, whose family fortune was built on the production of Styrofoam cups, is Grand Cayman's second-largest landowner after the nation. A Kimpton Hotel, a new highway, the Dart yacht club, and Camana Bay, a meticulously built 500-acre site with schools, offices, restaurants, and shops that is wildly popular with Cayman's expat community, are among his investments there.

 

Cayman's Economic Situation

 

Cayman is a British Overseas Territory located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica, with a governor appointed by Queen Elizabeth. In a short period of time, the islands have come a long way. The population grew from 10,000 in the 1970s to 56,000 today, with expatriates accounting for half of the population. There are no taxes on wages, businesses, or capital gains, nor are there any death duties or VAT, which, combined with the wonderful Caribbean environment, world-class sandy beaches, and arguably the best diving in the world, explains why many of its inhabitants choose to live there. Eighty percent of visitors to Cayman are from the United States, but the island's inhabitants hail from 130 different countries.

 

Cayman has a top-tier AAA financial ranking and is the world's sixth largest banking center. It has one of the highest living standards in the Caribbean and one of the lowest crime rates. According to Charles Weston-Baker of London-based global real estate company Savills, security is a big draw for those who travel there.

"Cayman is a First World country in the Caribbean," says Weston Baker, "with a strong international business community and well-developed, diverse facilities such as hospitals, colleges, golf courses, and hotels." "Cayman has 150 world-class restaurants, compared to five or six on other famous islands like Barbados. It lacks the architectural allure of some Caribbean islands, but it does provide a comfortable and elegant way of life."

 

Small inland houses to luxury beachfront apartments are all available. The most expensive places are along Seven Mile Beach in the west of Grand Cayman, where prices can exceed $1,300 per square foot.

A good example is the Watercolours Residences. On Seven Mile Beach, it is a newly built complex of 60 apartments on nine floors - the highest residential building in the Caymans - with wonderful sea views, communal amenities such as an excellent gym, beachfront pool, and continuous security monitoring. The final 12 three and four-bedroom units start at $3,900,000 for 3,700 square feet and go up to $3,900,000 for 4,700 square feet.

There are three golf courses on Grand Cayman: one 18-hole course and two 9-hole courses. At Ironwood, a course designed by Arnold Palmer, a fourth is planned. Freehold apartments, villas, and land plots start at $250,000 in this sports and real estate development on 600 acres in Grand Cayman's eastern district.

Cayman's architecture is mostly uninspiring, owing to the fact that most of the island's housing stock was hurriedly restored following Hurricane Ivan's devastation in 2004. Camden House, near the holiday resort of Rum Point on Grand Cayman's extreme eastern end, is an example of cutting-edge architecture. It is for sale at $6,850,000 and was designed by British architect Nick Tye with straight lines and expansive glass. It has four bedrooms, a wide pool, and a garden that leads to the sea.

 

Tourism in the Cayman Islands

Hon. Moses Kirkconnell, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, recognizes the role of the island's good infrastructure in attracting tourists. Flight connectivity is improving from around the world, and contracts for a new airport terminal, worth $50 million, have just been awarded. According to Kirkconnell, the new arrival figures in the Caymans are estimated to be up 12%, compared to a regional average rise of 5%.

Mr. Kirkconnell says, "Our policy is to make the Cayman Islands a world-class financial destination." "You get sand, sea, and sun all over the Caribbean, but Cayman takes it a step further with excellent roads, hospitals, and protection."

 

And what, in his opinion, is the world's most irritating myth about the Cayman Islands?

He laughs, "That we're a bunch of pirates!" "Seriously, I believe people are beginning to recognize our sophistication. We are a little-known country around the world. We need to spread the word about Cayman."