LONDON, England – Bermuda’s Premier Dr. Ewart F. Brown crisscrossed London on Monday, October 27 for media interviews, a roundtable discussion with international business executives and a planning session with fellow leaders of Overseas Territories (OT).
The OT leaders met Monday in advance of the Overseas Territories Consultative Council (OTCC). They worked to devise a strategy that will help them accomplish objectives of mutual interests when in talks with representatives of the Foreign Commonwealth Office over the next few days.
“The advance session among the Territory leaders is a fairly new dynamic for us and I think it has already proven its usefulness,” Premier Brown said. “It’s so helpful to go around the table, gather input from all the countries and then head to OTCC with a united front. Tomorrow we’ll go to work more focused, more results oriented.”
OTCC meetings get underway Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Premier Brown was guest of honour at an American European Business Association (AEBA) roundtable lunch. The Premier dialogued with more than two dozen international business executives about the global economic downturn and the affect it is having on Bermuda. After delivering remarks, the Premier took questions from the group.
“It’s not everyday you get such an impressive group of international business executives like this in one place,” the Premier said. “I was just as interested to hear from them as they were to hear from me. I think everyone in the room learned something new and some of those lessons will help Bermuda.”
Today’s meeting included executives from the world of commercial aviation, insurance, hospitality and other sectors. The AEBA is well-regarded internationally for productive dialogue between political and business leaders around the world.
The media in London have expressed a great deal of interest in how the current economic climate around the world is affecting Bermuda. Five different news entities interviewed the Premier today.
The day began with a live interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” where Premier Brown talked with presenter Geoff Cutmore. The Premier also appeared live on the Bloomberg Television program “European Market Report” with presenter Nina de Roy. She described Bermuda’s insurance and reinsurance sector as “recession resistant”. The Premier later appeared on BBC World Service radio.
In the early evening Monday, Premier Brown was a live guest on the BBC World News television program “World Business Report” with Tanya Beckett. He told the presenter that Bermuda-based insurance companies have a reputation of paying claims when the world needs it most. Thirty billion dollars in claims were paid to U.S. policyholders between 2001 and 2008, he explained.
“These were great opportunities to educate a large number of people about the kind of work Bermuda-based companies are doing quietly on a daily basis,” the Premier said today after interview number five. “I bet a lot of European viewers have no idea that Bermuda plays a major role in the widely bought wind storm coverage that is protecting homes and businesses all over Europe. If Bermuda was suddenly taken out of the mix, consumers in Europe – and in America for that matter – would suffer from sharp price increases. A lot of people haven’t heard that story, so part of my job is to tell it.”
The Premier also discussed luring U.K. travelers to Bermuda with Travel Weekly reporter Ed Robinson. Dr. Brown, who is also Minister of Tourism and Transport, told Mr. Robinson Bermuda was actively looking to replace Zoom Airlines to enhance the amount of airlift from the U.K.
