The shipping and maritime sector is another significant component of the Gibraltar economy and acts as the fifth largest global bunkering port in terms of fuel oil tonnage bunkered. Some 60,000 vessels pass through the straights of Gibraltar, with the Port catering for 240 million gross tonnes of vessel calls per year. The principle Brexit issue for this sector is the movement of parts, provisions and labour, through the border, potentially affecting the attractiveness to visiting ships. Given that Gibraltar offers first class support and services in this sector it will be hard to be challenged geographically in the area. CEO of the Port Bob Sanguinetti commented earlier in the year that “Gibraltar’s location and proximity to some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes will clearly not change, and nor will its rock solid relationship with the international shipping community”.
Although there is fierce opposition to leaving the EU it would seem that Gibraltar is not necessarily between a rock and hard place. The issue at the border needs addressing and Gibraltar is watching hawkishly at the Irish/UK situation developing as the EU continuously pushes its Free Movement principles, the added comfort to Gibraltar is that policy at the border with Spain is increasingly overseen on the EU’s side by Frontex, an EU agency headquartered in Warsaw, tasked with border control of the Schengen Area. Gibraltar is hoping for a free flowing border after it leaves in 2019 and avoiding the border being used as a political tool. Further, the EU is cracking down on multinational tech giants tax practices, as the Irish Government have recently found out, by proposing changes to EU member states corporate tax collection and setting of rates. An EU wide ‘federal’ corporate tax harmonisation proposal is being fiercely objected to by Malta, Luxembourg and Ireland, such
changes could impact on Gibraltar’s economic model it remained a member. The Brexit uncertainty has created challenges, particularly within traditional industries, but demand from new 21st tech industries are increasing. Cryptocurrencies, ITOs/ICOs and BlockChain technologies are looking for a high level of regulation and human resource skill sets that the strong Gibraltar Gaming and Financial Services sector affords. Gibraltar is the first country to introduce a Distributor Ledger Technology (DLT) regulatory framework resulting in the opening up of Gibraltar as a global player in this space. Global technology leaders from Silicon Valley, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Korea have been exploring opportunities on the Rock, with an Asian BlockChain investor buying a stake in the GSX – Gibraltar Stock Exchange. Fortunately, Gibraltar is nimble enough to capture new opportunities whilst dealing with the challenges of Brexit and robust in its high standards of regulation and compliance to establish itself after it leaves the EU with the UK in 2019.
Chad Thomson E:
chad.thomson@
admisi.com T: 003 502 006 3693
95.91% 4.09%
REMAIN A MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
LEAVE THE EUROPEAN UNION
13 | ADMISI - The Ghost In The Machine | November/December 2017
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