Investment Migration: “We Need More, Not Less Immigration Of People Who Contribute Positively To Society”

Thursday, 29 July 2021

Henley & Partners Chairman Dr. Christian H. Kaelin says the significant worldwide expansion of investment migration, by which affluent individuals invest in other countries to acquire residence or citizenship, is simply unstoppable. Speaking at The World Ahead Gala Dinner hosted by The Economist in Athens last week, Dr. Kaelin stated that all over the world, countries have realized the importance of granting residence and citizenship to attract much-needed foreign direct investment, debt-free capital, talented entrepreneurs, and experienced investors.

Dr. Kaelin, who is widely considered the pioneer of and one of the world’s foremost experts in investment migration, shared the stage with Ireland’s Minister for Finance and President of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, and Greece’s Minister of Finance, Christos Staikouras, at the annual event to discuss the year ahead with government and business leaders.

Further accelerated by the need to alleviate the financial distress across the world following the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Kaelin pointed out that more and more countries are offering investment migration programs or introducing new options in order to attract highly sought-after talent and capital to support their economies and strengthen their ‘sovereign equity’. Dr. Kaelin coined the term ‘sovereign equity’ in 2019 in Davos to describe how investment migration has the ability to endow nations with sustainable investments in a relatively short time frame without them having to increase debt and thereby burden future generations — while gaining highly qualified and experienced entrepreneurs and investors as new residents or even citizens.

Dr. Kaelin stressed that, particularly in Europe, there is also a pressing need to introduce far more positive migration policies to manage the global refugee crisis constructively while also attracting international investors and talent. He acknowledged that although politically challenging, it also presents a tremendous opportunity for the EU. “We need more, not less immigration of people who contribute positively to society,” he told the audience.

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