Cayman Enterprise City has released an updated economic impact assessment that puts the effect of the special economic zone on the local economy at US$662 million over the last decade.
The report, produced by economist Marla Dukharan, describes CEC’s direct and indirect impact on the economy and government revenues during its first 10 years of operation.
With an estimated economic impact of $160 million in 2021, the trajectory of the project is rising, the analysis found.
The share of Caymanian workers at special economic zone companies has grown from 12% in 2020 to 16% last year. In addition, there were 255 students and adults who benefited from interactive workshops, mentorships, internships, and work placements throughout the zone in 2021, CEC said in a press release.
CEC spent $8.2 million on construction in 2021 and $17.1 million since inception, leading to the creation of 55 construction industry jobs last year and an estimated 95 in 2022.
Government collected $5.5 million in revenues from CEC last year. Over the past decade government has received $22.7 million from zone companies.
Charlie Kirkconnell, CEO of Cayman Enterprise City, said, “The results from the 2021 Economic Impact report are a testament to the success of CEC as well as to the strength of the jurisdiction.
“CEC’s mission has always been to attract new knowledge-based industries to the Cayman Islands, to provide a world-class platform for innovative businesses to flourish, and to serve the needs of our community by helping to diversify our economy,” he said. “Our community efforts include our continued investment to non-profit workforce initiative Enterprise Cayman, which is designed to help Caymanians and residents with access to high-quality learning experiences and opportunities to pursue careers in the technology and innovation sectors.”
The analysis finds that the Cayman Islands economy is set to dramatically benefit from the continued growth of CEC’s target industries, such as artificial intelligence or smart contracts, which are outpacing existing industries that have failed to reach the levels of growth seen before the 2008 financial crisis.
“CEC is allowing us to tap into growth that our mature, traditional industries have not seen in the recent past,” the report said. “Since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008/2009, the only sector to have reached 10% GDP growth in the Cayman Islands was the Construction sector in 2019.”
Related Videos
