The Cayman Islands economy is entering a period of steady recovery as major infrastructure investments boost employment and local business.

Speaking exclusively to iNews Cayman, Chamber of Commerce President David Kirkaldy and CEO Wil Pineau said the organisation, representing 700 small businesses and 20,000 employees, looked forward to an imminent economic upturn, based on business sentiment and “a number of big projects in the pipeline “.

“The signs are swinging to recovery and it is something of a relief,” Mr Kirkaldy said. Nonetheless cautious, he said the recovery would prove initially modest, but would gather momentum.

“It’s still a little tenuous and won’t be for everyone, but a lot of people who were holding out are now going ahead with that construction or that investment for small projects – and there are big projects in the pipeline.”

Mr Kirkaldy, not only managing director of Massive Equipment Rentals and Sales, but also the owner of three other companies, pointed to Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) and Dr Devi Shetty’s Narayana Medical Centre as the drivers of the recovery, underpinned to a lesser extent by George Town port development and the Dart-government ForCayman Investment Alliance (FCIA).

“The CEC is a reality. The law was passed and the first trade applications are going through. The hulk of businesses are enterprises that don’t normally come to the Cayman Islands, and having them here means more renting and buying of apartments and homes, people going to restaurants, shopping, businesses holding board meetings, people staying in hotels and fully exposing Cayman to others,” he said.

Reinsurers, certain captives and other businesses not normally familiar with Cayman may find a congenial environment, helping to build a kind of critical economic mass.

“What is so encouraging is that while not much has started in the last four years, there has been tremendous work on the regulatory side, and while it is not perfect, this year there will be a lot of exciting things,” Mr Kirkaldy said.

Apart from last September’s Special Economic Zones Law, legislators have also amended the Immigration Law, the Companies Law, the Stamp Duty Law and the Registered Lands Law. They have also passed most of the changes sought by Dr Shetty to ensure construction of his $2 billion, 15-year Narayana Hospital, which will include a 2,000-bed hospital, after-care facilities, a medical college and a hotel. Phase-one groundbreaking for the medical-tourism facility, intended to draw patients from across the Americas, is set for August.

“We have seen Dr Shetty transition from a concept to reality, and it will create new opportunities outside of what is being done now,” he said, addressing the idea of economic diversification, long a goal of successive administrations, and most recently a subject of local concern as part of the UK’s recent survey of overseas territories.

“There will be a hotel and the exposure of Cayman to people not otherwise here. Everyone that comes will bring at least one family member. This can only increase, and in 20 years, when our kids are thinking about careers and wish to remain on island, there will be quantities of [opportunities] as doctors, nurses, technicians, lots of things,” he said.

Mr Pineau pointed to the Chamber’s July 2011 launch of its public-private five-point Future of Cayman initiative, conceived to improve “the quality of life, business climate and create jobs and business opportunities”, saying “these two projects represent the diversification of our economy”, away from routine Caribbean “sun, sand and sea” attractions.

Both declined to elaborate on port development and FCIA investments, saying insufficient information was publicly available, but clearly hoping to avoid the projects’ attendant political controversy.

“Cayman needs cruise berthing, and it will offer benefits and more competition,” Mr Kirkaldy said. The chamber supported the FCIA, but looked to concerns for good governance and transparency, while hoping the reconstruction of the old Marriott Courtyard oterl Hotel would boost stay-over tourism.

“Having a large hotel sitting derelict does not assist ‘Brand Cayman’,” Mr Kirkaldy said. “Given the limitations on government financing, you have to find pragmatic ways of making trade-offs that benefit all parties.”

He paid tribute to a civil service improving under the leadership of Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and pointed out that nearly all Chief Officers were part of the five Future of Cayman “driver” groups.

The outlook was not without challenges, Mr Pineau said, pointing to education, prisons and recidivism, high business costs, new and untested customs regulations and the pace of “modernising the legal framework” for new financial products and services.

“We need a sort of advocate,” Mr Pineau said, “an ombudsman in government to take care of business applications, get licences, help navigate the system, and get things moving much faster.”