"I am happy to announce that so far it seems as if the CFT will be opening an office here. This is something that I have been pushing for since my term as Director of Resources under the Island Territory status.
"The presence of the CFT on the island will help to foster the relationship between the CFT and Government as well as the administration. It is also more representative of the constitutional reality almost a year later since the achievement of country status where we are no longer under Curacao, and as such we deserve CFT having an office here as well," Minister of Finance Hon. Hiro Shigemoto said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday the Ministry of Finance received a copy of the CFT report which came via the Dutch Representation Office in Philipsburg.
"I have not had a chance to read the report of the CFT that was presented to the Kingdom Council of Ministers. We have gone through a transformation process from island territory to country and we are still not there yet.
"There is much still to be done in building country Sint Maarten, but we are on the right track. The challenges that we are confronting we are dealing with and putting in place the necessary systematic processes with respect to financial monitoring, control, and planning.
"Everything takes time, but we are on the right track and with the opening of a CFT Office in Philipsburg, this will further enhance the relationship and workings between the CFT and Government," Minister of Finance Hon. Hiro Shigemoto concluded.
The report covers the period of June 2010 up to and including March 2011.
