“We will be engaging in export activity and this can open up trade channels to export other BVI products. This will allow for the creation of an export tax, therefore and thereby opening the door for new revenues to be realised by this territory. All of this will contribute to our economic growth,” Fahie said during last Friday’s debate of the legislation that provides for the cultivation, processing, importation, exportation, distribution, and sale of medical cannabis in the BVI.

No further details were given about the new proposed tariff at the time of Fahie’s statement.

Besides this new export tax, Premier Fahie said the aforementioned medical marijuana legislative framework can help to propel the BVI into medical tourism - an area he said the territory has been “talking about for years”.

Other projected benefits

He said there will be other economic benefits to the legislation which has received a considerable degree of opposition inside and outside of parliament.

“We will be creating jobs, people will be earning money and will have the spending power to support local business. We will be producing an exportable commodity which will [gain] us foreign exchange earnings. We will be diversifying our economy-base instead of having our eggs in two baskets,” he said.

The economic baskets of which the Premier refers are the financial services sector which accounts for roughly 60 percent of annual revenue and the tourism sector, which accounts for one in four jobs in the BVI.