The Isle of Man does have sufficient global reach to stand on its own three feet, according to the majority of voters who attended a special debate lon Wednesday night.
More than 120 people voted in The Three Feet Debate, which was staged by ILS Fiduciaries, in conjunction with the Isle of Man Junior Chamber of Commerce, and proposed the motion “This house believes that in the current economic climate the Isle of Man does not have sufficient global reach to stand on its own three feet”.
An impressive line-up of speakers joined ILS Chief Executive Officer Chris Eaton, who chaired the debate.
The opposing team, which put forward the winning argument, were John Spellman, Director of Financial Services at Isle of Man Government, and Phillip Dearden, Director at PKF. The proposing team were Courtenay Heading, Inward Investment Advisor - Technologies at Isle of Man Government, and Greg Jones, Tax Partner at KPMG.
During the evening both teams put forward their case.
Greg Jones, on the proposing team, argued that the finance centre had evolved and discussed the issues the Island initially addressed, such as tax planning, and why these were no longer viable or possible.
Courtenay Heading said technology was moving so fast and it was survival of the cheapest, not the fittest. He said educational and political systems needed to develop fast enough to react to the available opportunities.
John Spellman, on the opposing team, said the Isle of Man Government had been creating the right environment for the Island to reach out further afield for some time, including double taxation agreements and memorandums of understanding, but that it was down to local businesses to grasp the opportunities available as a result of this activity.
Philip Dearden added the Island’s finance sector was incredibly diverse and flexible enough to succeed and adapt when opportunities presented themselves, much as it has over the last 30 years, during which time the Island had experienced continual growth.
Chris Eaton said: “We’re delighted with the success of this event and would like to thank our expert speakers for joining us in this debate. We wanted to stage an event which was a little different and would evoke contribution and opinion within the Island, and it was interesting to hear the cases put forward by the two teams and to learn of public opinion with regard to the Island’s position in the global economy. The evening was a great success, so much so we plan to stage an ILS debate on an annual basis as an opportunity to discuss topical subjects and hear the opinions of residents and key decision-makers in the Island.”
There was considerable contribution from the floor and prior to the debate through the Group’s discussion pages on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/company/977472?trk=prof-0-ovw-curr_pos and its poll on The ILS Group Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-ILS-Group/430997436953606
Photo - (left to right) Philip Dearden, John Spellman, Chris Eaton, Courtenay Heading and Greg Jones.
