Subsidieregeling versterking duurzaam verdienvermogen ACS en BES

Reactie

Vraag1

Very good initiatives for the Dutch Caribbean islands. I have the following comments on the scheme:
1. Will experts from the islands be included in the Advisory Committee? It is very important that they are so that the island context/situation can be considered when deciding which proposal to support. These contexts are usually taken for granted by those who live outside of the region.
2. The minimum subsidy limit set for phase A is possibly too high and will exclude small businesses on the islands in particular Statia and Saba as they may not require a such a high sum to conduct a feasibility study. I would recommend lowering the limit to 20,000.
3. The Kingdom of the Netherlands (via EZK now KGG) signed a climate agenda which outlined 8 priority topics the islands would like to focus on. Will these topics be prioritized under this subsidy scheme?
4. Conducting business on the islands is extremely expensive due to high shipping and import fees. To ensure the success of these new initiatives/businesses, it would be prudent to provide subsidy recipients with an ABB exemption and possible exemption on profit tax for the first 5 years to ensure that the business can get the right footing and become profitable. Most businesses fail in the first 5 years of operation. Import fees, Administrative and accounting expenses make a big proportion of these expenses. Provide an exemption for projects funded by this subsidy.