PHILIPSBURG – As the residents of St. Maarten can expect a major influx of Chinese influence going forward due to the recently announced 326 room, 450 apartment Pearl of China project to be located at Bel Air Beach, one has to become aware of the state of the Chinese economy and its fragile position in terms of accumulated debt due to the construction, housing and stock market boom and what consequences that has for all new construction projects. The big question then becomes: who will visit this hotel?
To combat the debt problems, the Chinese Government is urging their people to consume more, especially to buy real estate which has created a housing bubble which can be compared to the US housing bubble before it exploded in 2008, resulting in the financial crisis which sent the global economy into recession. Experts fear the same will happen in China if the situation stays the same.
Government (current and next one) is urged to be extremely cautious in dealing with the Chinese developers going forward with this project in order to safeguard against an unfinished and deserted building be left on our beautiful shoreline with all dire consequences for the residents of St. Maarten. What financing guarantees does the Government of St. Maarten have? What guarantees in terms of number of Chinese visitors does the Government of St. Maarten have when China’s economy is in recession? What happens when the building sits empty due to economic crisis back home in China? These are but a few crucial questions that need to be answered before construction commences.
Residents of St. Maarten are urged to become more aware of the Chinese predicament and read up on the current situation and by watching these (and other) video clips that explain the situation in detail.
The End of China Inc.? (Al Jazeera)
Financial Times: The End of the Chinese Miracle
Sky News: Is This The End of the Chinese Economic Boom?
The Chinese have the expertise to build in the ocean. If we are afraid to have a construction on the Island’s shore line, work out a permission to build an island between SXM and Statia with long runway and taxiway with a terminal building to be used as temporary housing. Set up the island to have a large hotel and apartments. Everything to make the island a comfortable and a luxurious place to work and live. Artificial beach with facilities for landing and mooring. Efficient infrastructure including sophisticated communication.
All islands in the immediate surrounding will benefit from the project in one or more way
Of course a smaller exclusive hotel
can be build on SXM
Interesting thought. Question is: will the new island be a Dutch municipality or not? ;-P
St. Maarten needs desperately high end resorts especially to compensate for the loss of business from the cruise ships .If this property will meet high standards in the hospitality industry it can be managed by well known hotels managements companies which obviously generate the traffic. Chinese may own it but not run it. Extremely important for the island.
“The big question then becomes: who will visit this hotel?” – most likely Chinese businessmen looking to get away from home and visit prostitutes. It’s a cultural thing. This is also why apartments are beiing built as well for many of them to have a permanent spot.
Far fetched.