Global Britain urged to open doors for developing world
ENTREPRENEURS in developing countries should be allowed to register firms in the UK as “e-citizens”, as part of Boris Johnson’s push for a global Britain, the Prime Minister’s former business adviser has said.
James Sproule has called on Mr Johnson to allow a new generation of start-ups to operate within UK company law from abroad, beginning with Commonwealth countries such as Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.
A report by Mr Sproule, published by the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, says the move would help entrepreneurs in developing countries to draw investment to countries where the “start-up spirit” is currently “stifled”, including, in some cases, by corruption and maladministration. It would also give British investors an opportunity to gain the “higher returns” available in developing countries, knowing that their investments would be protected by UK law, he states.
Speaking earlier this year, Mr Johnson said that Brexit gave the UK the opportunity to “go out into the world”, adding that free trade “has done more than any other single economic idea to raise billions out of poverty and incredibly fast”.
Mr Sproule, who is now UK Chief Economist at Sweden’s Handelsbanken, said his proposals were intended to “help flesh out that vision” by putting the UK “at the heart of the global trade in services ideas”.
Under his proposals, the UK would introduce “e-citizenship” akin to a scheme set up in Estonia in 2014 to allow entrepreneurs to set up Estonian firms from anywhere in the world.
The criteria for e-citizenship would be more stringent than for a business visa application, allowing those who are approved to also qualify for working visas. E-citizens would be able to set up UK-registered “e-international” companies and open an international British bank account.
The report states: “Britain’s legal system, and its financial institutions, are among the most trusted in the world. We are the home not just to Europe’s financial services and industry and its largest capital markets, but dominate in fields such as accountancy and legal services.”