Three days of high level talks between Cayman and Canada to advance the Cayman Islands Airport Redevelopment Project took place recently.

Cayman Islands participants included the Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA), the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, Cayman Enterprise City, the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands, the Auditor General and the Cayman Islands Government Caucus.

Canada was represented by the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a federal Crown Agency and international contracting arm of the Government of Canada and its partners.

From Wednesday, October 17, 2012 through Friday, October 19, 2012, meetings were held in George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands between key Cayman Islands Government agencies and a Canadian team led by the Canadian Government to advance the Cayman Islands Airport Redevelopment Project – specifically the redevelopment of Grand Cayman’s Owen Roberts International Airport.

Key executives from Cayman-based Paramount Group, Kenny Rankin, Paul Rankin, David Rankin as well as Edward Jerrard, a well known local aviation expert, also participated alongside the Canadian team.

On Wednesday, October 17, 2012, the Canadian team and Paramount met with the Cayman Islands Tourism Association.

On Thursday, October 18, 2012 meetings continued with senior representatives of the board of the CIAA as well as CIAA senior management, the directors of the Cayman Enterprise City and the board of the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce.

Meetings were held on Friday, October 19, 2012 with members of the Cayman Islands Government Caucus and wrapped up with discussions with the Auditor General.

The Canadian team is proposing a privately financed, long-term airport concession that will not require any Government funding. The proposal includes a significant upfront payment to the Cayman Islands, a healthy ongoing revenue share to the CIAA, material fiscal savings to the Cayman Islands by transitioning civil servants to the private sector and an overall proposed project investment of approximately $200M, in addition to the operation and continuous improvement of the airport facilities for a period of 30-40 years.

Positive feedback was received at all meetings to the Canadian team’s proposed doubling of current airport capacity, important short term safety upgrades, and the generation of significant employment opportunities, all at no cost to the Cayman Islands. Further discussions involved a dramatically improved customer service experience by modernizing and improving terminal passenger flows and in all respects improving the airport services and experience to match the international standing of the Caymans as a premier tourist destination and global financial centre.

Discussions also focused on an enabling environment for future economic growth by upgrading infrastructure required to support and facilitate many private business initiatives, which of course would drive further economic benefits to the Cayman Islands.

Canada, through the Canadian Commercial Corporation, offers the advantage of contracting for the delivery of complex infrastructure projects on a Government-to-Government basis. Simplified acquisition, reduced risk and an enhanced bilateral relationship are key advantages of this approach. Collaborative project definition and planning are the foundation of the project development and implementation process proposed by the Canadian team.

Quality, value for money and integrity were key in all the discussions and the participation of the Canadian Commercial Corporation in the project, as Prime Contractor, provides the reassurance of a guarantee of contract performance from the Government of Canada. Further, the well-proven rapid deployment acquisition model of a Government-to-Government negotiation framework can dramatically reduce implementation timeframes and transitions risk for the Cayman Islands.

Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC)

CCC, a Crown Corporation wholly-owned by the Government of Canada, reports to the Canadian Parliament through the Minister of International Trade and acts as Prime Contractor to other governments and their agencies, international organizations and private sector buyers of goods and services from Canadian suppliers. The CCC mandate is to facilitate trade between Canada and other nations and does this by facilitating acquisitions from Canada through Government-to-Government contracting. A contract signed by CCC brings with it the Government of Canada’s assurance of contract performance.