THE Isle of Man’s international reputation has received a significant boost with the signing of an important agreement with a leading US university.
Leaders of the island’s business community have agreed to provide £16,000 to support the establishment of the Isle of Man Small Countries Programme (IOMSCP) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, the second largest university in the United States.
John Bersia, director at the university’s Global Perspectives Office, told Business News: ‘We look forward to a long and fruitful association between the Isle of Man and our university.’
And there could be huge spin-off benefits for the island. Mr Bersia, a Pulitzer Prize winner, said he would like to explore the possibility of organising a lunch talk or possible TV interviews with Manx politicians or business leaders when they visit Florida on business or holiday.
And Tim Cullen, executive director of the Small Countries Financial Management Centre said: ‘The benefit to the island in terms of reputation is considerable.’
The Florida programme will work with the island’s Small Countries Financial Management Centre (SCFMC), which, for each of the past three years, has brought 24 senior finance officials from small developing countries to the Isle of Man and Oxford for two-week, executive-education programmes.
These are aimed at improving financial management of their economies, their regulatory regimes, and capacity-building of leadership and negotiation skills.
UCF’s close proximity to and connections with the Caribbean, a key concentration of small countries, means that the new programme’s work will have a special focus on that region.
But it will also promote awareness and discussion of small-country issues throughout the world.
The new programme in Florida will complement the work of the SCFMC in the Isle of Man by addressing issues other than economic ones, including security, political, social and environmental matters.
These topics reflect the interests and capabilities of the Global Perspectives Office at UCF, which will house the new programme, and which directs or co-directs several international, interdisciplinary undertakings at the university which has more than 56,000 students.
The SCFMC in Douglas, which has benefitted from substantial funding from the Isle of Man Treasury, is a partnership with the World Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The financial management of the centre in the Isle of Man is provided by KPMG, and major administrative support for programme planning and implementation has been provided by PDMS, the leading business systems company. Both of these companies have provided their invaluable support on a pro bono basis. HSBC, Mann Link Travel, Capital International, and Manx Telecom, have also provided important support for the annual two-week programme.
Mr Cullen said: ‘Peter Long from Capital International deserves much of the credit for persuading Manx business leaders to make the commitment to support the new programme in Florida.
‘Most of the £16,000 funding was agreed within 48 hours and is a clear signal of the business community’s commitment to the island’s international profile.
‘This broad buy-in to what the Small Countries Financial Management Centre is doing is very encouraging. We are hoping that a few more contributions will be forthcoming to bring the total up to £20,000.
‘Apart from the very clear benefits that the annual two-week Small Countries programme has already provided to the 29 countries from which 77 participants over the past three years have come, the benefit to the island in terms of reputation is already considerable.’
Mr Cullen added: ‘To hear the Isle of Man referred to as a leader among small states at the World Bank and the IMF, and in countries as far apart as New Zealand and Canada is very gratifying.’
Later in the year, in September, UCF will host the National Conference of Editorial Writers annual convention, which brings together opinion journalists from the United States, Canada and other countries.
The director of UCF’s Global Perspectives office, John Bersia, who has been the island’s main point of contact at UCF, is shaping the agenda and is including the Small Countries Financial Management Programme and the new programme at UCF as a discussion session.
Mr Bersia, himself being a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, has been very effective in getting across messages about how the SCFMP is making a difference through his columns, which are internationally distributed, and through his broadcast work.
He hosts the ‘Global Perspectives Show’ on UCF TV and PBS, which is also uploaded to YouTube.
He stressed that when Manx politicians or business leaders visit Florida on business or holiday, he would like to explore the possibility of organising a lunch talk or a possible TV interview. The Small Countries programme has already featured prominently in these media outlets.
The contributions by the island’s business community will be routed through the Ellan Vannin Fund at the Global Connections Foundation, a long-time UCF partner, that is assisting with the new Small Countries Programme.
Mr Cullen points out: ‘The SCFMC in the island uses all its scarce resources to pay for the annual two-week programme and, in due course, for follow-up implementation programmes in the regions, so it cannot afford to pay for research. ‘
Mr Bersia added that another benefit of the UCF programme was that it can help develop networks and initiatives that address other small-country issues to complement the SCFMC’s focus on the governmental finance sector. For instance there is an interest at the World Bank in capacity-building for parliamentarians, which has a natural connection to the Isle of Man.
Also, business people in the United States are interested in forming networks of private sector firms with an interest in small countries, in which Isle of Man companies could be members. ‘We are very grateful to the business leaders in the Isle of Man for their generosity, and we look forward to a long and fruitful association between the Isle of Man and our university,’ Mr Bersia concluded.