Creative Lab Curaçao TEDx

Coverstory:

CTEXA VIP tour of Curaçao Technology Exchange N.V. (CTEX)

Rise to the Top: Cedric Sprock: a self-made star but still an island boy at heart

Creative Lab CuraçaoInspiration is the fuel of the future

TEDxChange, sustainability and civic power

CURAÇAO

WWW.CURACAOBUSINESSMAGAZINE.COM

EDITION 2 | MARCH 2014

First of all, I would like to wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous 2014! It’s going to be a great year, and what a better way to kick it off than with our second issue of Curaçao Business. In this issue, we were able to include great articles written by professionals of various disciplines around the island, informing us about new types of businesses and services available on Curaçao, as well as the scoop on established businesses about which we may have been curious. One such company that has stimulated a lot of curiosity is Curaçao Technology Exchange or CTEX, and I was privileged to get a tour of the facilities. Once it’s up and running, the public will not be allowed to enter, so Curaçao Business is giving you a rare, inside look.

You will also start seeing two feature stories in every issue. One will be a success story titled “Rise to the Top,” and this month’s success story features Cedric Sprock of Café Barista. The other, “Beyond the Glass Ceiling,” will highlight a woman who has achieved success in her profession. This issue features Zuleika Lasten, the first woman to be appointed as partner at PwC.

As promised, we have provided interesting articles, two new fea-tures and hot topics to keep you “in-the-know.” We hope you are pleased with the results! If there are any topics you would like to see in future issues or would like to write an article for the magazine, please let us know.

Curaçao Business is available in print in English and online in English and Dutch at www.curaçaobusinessmagazine.com.

Heather de Paulo, editor.

FOREWORD

Letter from the Editor

3C U R A Ç A O B U S I N E S S | N U M B E R 1 | 2 0 1 4

Curaçao Business

PUBLISHERCuraçao Business Media Group b.v.

Postadres on Curaçao:Sta. Rosaweg 19

Willemstad, Curaçao

EXPLOITATION

Van Munster Media BV P1: Postbus 6684, NL-6503 GD Nijmegen,

The NetherlandsP2: Kerkenbos 12-26c, NL-6546 BE Nijmegen,

The NetherlandsT: +31(0) 24 373 8505F: +31(0) 24 373 0933

I: www.vanmunstermedia.nl

POSTADRES ON CURAÇAO:

PublisherMichael van MunsterT: +31(0) 24 373 8505

E: [email protected]

CHIEF EDITORHeather De Paulo

T: (599-9) 682-8627E: [email protected]

SALES ENQUIRIEST: (599-9) 736-5011 F: (599-9) 736-6365E: [email protected]

SUBSCRIPTIONSSubscriptions: NAF 35 per year

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MARKETING AND SUBSCRIPTIONSStephan Aalbers

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ART PRODUCTION Joost Franken

Jan-Willem Bouwman

DISTRIBUTIONNieuwe Post, Curaçao

The publisher and its staff cannot be held liable

for the contents of this magazine and state-ments and/ or its advertisements do not neces-

sarily reflect its editorial views.

Although the greatest care was given to the ac-curacy of the information in this publication

and checked where possible, the publisher and the editors explicitly contest any liability for any

incorrectness or incompleteness of the infor-mation provided.

5 CTEX

12 Rise to the Top – with Cedric Sprock of Café Barista

15 News

16 Beyond the Glass Ceiling

18 The Rebranding Initiative of Guardian Group

21 News

22 Co-creating Scharloo - Creative Lab Curaçao

26 PwC celebrates its 75th anniversary

28 TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat

30 Lampa 2013

32 What it means to be a hub

36 Curaçao Airport Holding

40 Sole proprietorship vs. B.V.

44 Factoring

46 SBAB Guide in tax administration

48 Information Security

50 News

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32van munster m e d i a g r o u p

van munster m e d i a g r o u p

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Cedric Sprock: a self-made star but still an island boy

at heart

LAMPA 2013: Highly succes-sful commercial meetings

between Brazil and Curaçao

What it means to be a hub: Historically, Curaçao

is already familiar with what it means to operate

as a hub.

CAH: Innovator leading the way to a sustainable future

for Curaçao

Creative Lab Curaçao: Inspiration is the fuel of

the future

TEDx: Change, sustainability and civic

power

CTEX: A VIP tour of Curaçao Technology

Exchange N.V.

Worldwide, there are only 11 Tier IV certified datacenters. CTEX on Curaçao is one of them, thanks to the vision and perseverance of one man, and some crucial qualities of the location.

A VIP tour of Curaçao Technology Exchange N.V. (CTEX)

ICT

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The idea for a data center on Curaçao started 13 years ago in the year 2000. That same year, Telefonica, the second largest telecom company in the world, had made a 32 billion dollar investment in Latin America, building five major data centers in Miami, San Paulo, Buenos Aires, Peru and Chile. Even with this huge expansion, it was discovered that there was a large geographical segment not covered by these high-end data centers: Panama, Columbia, Suriname, parts of Venezuela and the Caribbean.

VisionAnthony de Lima, who was the executive vice president of Telefonica at the time, created the first vision of Curaçao Technology Exchange N.V. (CTEX), along with partners, and presented it to Telefonica. The idea was rejected because most of the company’s business was focused in Brazil. The idea did not get completely put to rest as, 10 years later, de Lima and the ex-CEO of Telefonica, Juan Villalonga, came together and started to really look at how realistic it was to make CTEX a reality. Market research showed that companies in this region that needed a high end data center had to source out as far as the US, Canada and even Germany. With this information, it was decided to move forward with the project and launch CTEX.

Highest levelWhen Anthony de Lima, President and CEO of CTEX, does something, he goes all the way, settling for nothing but the best. Therefore, it is no surprise that CTEX was designed to be certified as a Tier IV data center, the highest level certifica-tion for a data center, by Uptime Institute, a global data center certification company. It isn’t unusual for a company to get the Tier IV certification on the design, but never build the facility

to meet the design. Right now in the Caribbean and Latin American region, there are four Tier IV design certified mul-ti-tenant data centers: Telconet in Equador, KIO Networks in Mexico, Instituto Nacional de Seguros in Costa Rica and CTEX on Curaçao. Of these four, CTEX will be the first to be ‘facility certified’, which will make it one out of 11 data centers at this level worldwide. CriticalCertification as a Tier IV data center guarantees that CTEX is a fault tolerant facility with the ability to guarantee 100% uptime. This means that a single failure of any capacity system, capacity component or distribution element will not impact the computer equipment, and that the system itself automatically responds, or ‘self-heals’, to a failure to prevent further impact to the site. This is critical because no outage to computer equip-ment will happen, even in unplanned events such as equipment failures, fire, explosion, etc. Certification as a Tier IV data center is a big deal for customers looking for a data center to store their valuable information, because it indicates the level of quality the data center can provide and the service level agree-ments that can be offered to the customer.

How can CTEX guarantee to uphold these stringent standards and guarantee 100% availability to its customers, 24 hours a day, year-round? Even though Curaçao is situated outside the traditional hurricane belt and away from major seismic fault lines, the facility is designed to withstand level-three earth-quakes and exceeds level-five hurricane safety standards.

The facility is also directly interconnected with five major international subsea fiber cables, with three more coming in to the north side of the island in 2014. Ninety percent of the

C U R A Ç A O B U S I N E S S | N U M B E R 1 | 2 0 1 4

TEXT HEATHER DE PAULO

digital traffic that travels around the world goes through sub-marine fiber cables that lie on the ocean bed, come up on shore and connect to a landing station. This makes communications to and from CTEX much more efficient than using a satellite link, which could never provide the same performance as fiber cables.

PowerThe facility’s entire power and cooling infrastructure was designed from the ground up in partnership with Schneider Electric. On a regular basis, power is supplied to the facility from Aqualectra. However, in case of emergency, CTEX has a commercial grade generator plant at the back of the facility that is designed to run 24-7. Mr. de Lima explains, “If we see any instability in the grid, we take the facility off line and run from our own power generation plant. There are diesel bins that hold 320,000 gallons of fuel. That means the facility can run for 14

days flat without refueling.” CTEX is also working with a com-pany that will build an 11-megawatt solar park right next to this. Each building consumes 5 megawatts, so the goal is that during the day, a whole building can run on solar power.

Four segments of customersCTEX will have customers worldwide from a vast range of industries. To simplify things, the customer base of CTEX is broken down into categories, from geographical location to type of industry. Geographically, CTEX has four segments of customers. The first is the North American Fortune 500 companies with offshore operations who conduct business in Latin America and are looking for high-end data centers in the region. The second segment is the largest and fastest growing segment, the multi-Latinas. These are the largest corporations in Columbia, Venezuela, Panama and Brazil that set up oper-ations internationally. They move, act and behave just as their

ICT

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American Fortune 500 counterparts did 10-15 years ago. The third segment is European customers that have invest-ments in Latin America and need a place to house their applications and soft-ware. Finally, the fourth segment is the Caribbean customers that are located in areas that are not as safe as Curaçao, such as those islands located in the hurricane belt or seismic zone.

Within those four geographic segments, clients are categorized by five primary industry verticals: financial services, manufacturing, health care and life sciences, transportation and logistics and oil and gas, which is the fastest

moving segment. Within these indus-try verticals are the types of customers: the multi-nationals and the small to medium enterprise customer. For each type of customer, there is a different type of solution. The large Fortune 500 companies typically want a very secure, high-end facility where they can place their servers, applications and data, with the confidence that there are high levels of security and protection and that their servers are up and running 24-7. They bring in their own equipment, put it into secure racks located at the CTEX facility and use the data center services. These services include: managing security of the infrastructure 24-7, co-location, net-work management and managed services. With managed services, CTEX can be the remote hands for remote customers, performing updates, etc., by permission and by contract only.

PartnerFor the small to medium business owner, an investment in their own servers may not be worthwhile; they just want their applications and data up and running when they want it. For these cus-tomers, CTEX has partnered with a company called the Virtual Computing Environment Company, or VCE. VCE is an American computer integration company and is a joint venture between Cisco Systems, EMC Corporation, VMware and Intel Corporation; jointly they invested around $480 million to create this cloud platform. There have been live customers using this service since October 2012, several of those companies with less than five employees. Customers are billed on a monthly basis for the amount of computing capacity they use, like a consumption fee, just in the same way you would pay for elec-tricity. For many years now, companies have used tape back-ups where, on a daily basis, someone has to change the tapes. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t, but with current technology, the tape business is nearly dead. CTEX has a system called ‘back-up as a service’. At the end of the day, software at CTEX wakes up, compares what’s in its stor-age grid as compared to what’s on your

server, and whatever is different from the last back-up gets shipped over. This creates a realtime back-up at all times in the ‘cloud’.

CloudWhat is the difference between storing your data in a cloud at CTEX and storing it in a public cloud, like Apple’s iCloud? Anthony de Lima explains, “In a public cloud model, like in the case of Apple’s iCloud, it’s a consumer-based cloud environment and you share an infrastruc-ture and server with other users. You put everything up there — photos, music, etc. You use the resources, but you have

no idea and don’t really care where your data gets stored. It could be in Singapore, North Carolina, Texas or Holland — you have no control of your data. In the case of a private or hybrid cloud model, when you put your information on a server, that server is yours. That storage is for you, the customer; you don’t share with anyone else. CTEX guarantees to the cus-tomer that they know at all points in time where their data sits.” There is a whole portfolio of services that deals with advanced cloud services, from backup to storage and data center solutions. Details on the cloud solutions can be found at www.ctexhypercloud.com.

In the private cloud environment, some may believe that you have to be sensitive about security, but the reverse is actually the case. When all of your applications and data are stored on a secured server in a high end data center, your data is much

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“Our biggest challenge right now is work discipline; our work discipline has to change dramatically.”


more secure than if your server sits in your office. In the data center, no one can monitor your ADSL connections. If a mem-ory stick goes into a computer to access data, the data center is alerted right away — the data center monitors everything that touches anything in its environment. CTEX provides data leak-age protection for its customers.

Business appsCTEX offers applications specific to a selected industry that are more business related, rather than consumer related, i.e.

something you would buy from the App Store. Along the indus-try verticals, different sectors can set up business apps that are focused for each respective industry. These apps are set up in a private cloud for each sector that CTEX administers. An exam-ple of this is Bearing Point, a client of CTEX. It has set up busi-ness apps that are focused around the government sector where those who access it can use a tax collection system. An app like this would be useful for someone in the tax industry who can use the information to help run his or her core business. CTEX is also working with several accounting software vendors so that their accounting package resides on a CTEX server in the cloud. This enables users to instantly access the information to more efficiently assist customers.

NexusWith the options CTEX is bundling together, it allows busi-nesses to come to the data center and host their services; the transactions will happen in the data center. Mr. de Lima states, “The whole vision behind this company is to create a nexus in the region where businesses come to conduct business. It’s not a hub to Latin America, Latin America comes here.” For

ICT

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Market research showed that companies in this region that needed a high end data center had to source out as far as the US, Canada and even Germany.


example, a payment system of a bank sits in the data center. That bank connects to another bank and you eventually build an ecosystem of businesses and technology solutions that run in to that data center. CTEX, together with KPMG, Van Eps Kunneman and HB manage-ment, are going to big customers in different countries, along with the Dutch Ambassador to each respective country, and packaging Curaçao as a destination for technology — marketing the fiscal and technology benefits of Curaçao, together with Curaçao’s position in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Import and export is occurring simultaneously as CTEX exports its capability and in turn, invites cus-tomers to come to Curaçao as a location that is very secure. And, since Curaçao is part of the Dutch Kingdom, its privacy laws fall under the European Convention, which is enticing.

Besides Curaçao’s European privacy laws, another playing card for CTEX is the fiscal benefits of the island. There are zero import duties on technology, so when international companies ship their computing infrastruc-ture to Curaçao, they pay either zero import taxes, or a maximum of 2% if they establish an operating entity on Curaçao. According to de Lima, “The combination of these assets repositions Curaçao as a destination hub to conduct business in the region, and that’s our long term vision. The more companies that run their systems and host their applications through our data center, the more it will be an open marketplace for companies to come and meet each other in the digital world here. By doing so, we not only attract companies to run applications in the data center, but they will also consider establishing an operating entity on Curaçao.”

Videoconference Apart from its data center and cloud services, CTEX houses the region’s most advanced telepresence conference system that will be interconnected to a global videoconference network. This system allows you to meet with people anywhere there is a telepresence conference system and is set up in a way that in a matter of seconds, you forget the person isn’t actually sitting in the room with you. The facility is for professionals in a number of industries, but in particular the healthcare sector, to interact with their peers across the globe to share information and gain knowl-edge in new medical technologies and proce-dures, as well as critical diagnostic scenarios.

Mr. de Lima adds, “The nice thing is, if we have a critical emergency where you need an international diagnosis, you can counsel with medical doctors anywhere in the world within a short period of time.”

CTEX will have four facilities located in Seru Mahuma, including four buildings, each with 52,000 square feet of covered space. The first building was finished in October and there are plans to start the building of the second this year (2014). All four buildings will probably be finished by 2018.

A digital commerce spaceCuraçao Business Magazine asked Mr. de Lima where he would like to see CTEX in the next 10 years. He stated, “If we continue on our vision, and I just look at our pipeline of customers, I think we are well on our way to build a digital commerce space where compa-nies come in, place their critical technologies, leverage our cloud infrastructure and come to

transact business in the data center. If you look back 50-100 years ago, farmers brought their products to a physical market place. Think of CTEX as a digital marketplace, where inter-national companies come to Curaçao to meet digitally — transact and conduct business, buy and sell in these facilities. That is one of our primary focuses. “With that, the dream would be for me to turn Seru Mahuma into a high-end technology park, kind of like the ‘cyber-row’, where you have not only super high-end data centers, the best in the region with the latest and greatest technology, but also software development, a type of silicone valley. Surrounding it you will have all kinds of technology-related compa-nies and all types of businesses, hotels, tech-

nology and business parks. That’s the vision for what this should be — a nexus for what the future should look like.”

Challenge“For that to happen, a lot of things have to change on Curaçao. Our biggest challenge right now is work discipline; our work disci-pline has to change dramatically. This includes government, work place, everything. We have to perform at a much higher level — we have to step up and operate on an international level. If we don’t, companies are not going to look at Curaçao as a place they want to conduct business. If you are going to bring in a large corporation to run its IT operations in your data center, there’s no playing around. They have their service levels and you either have them or you don’t. Work discipline is a sensitive thing, but we should never bench-mark ourselves with other islands or the region. We should benchmark ourselves with the developed world because those are the

customers we are going after and they demand a certain work ethic.

“Second is knowledge. We are way behind in knowledge. People on Curaçao who are in the technology field have to get a lot more pro-fessional about how they handle technology. People have to get certifications, they have to stay current and they have to get training — it cannot be a hobby, you have to be really pro-fessional about it. We are dealing with that by partnering up with international professionals and partnering them up with the locals to raise knowledge levels, but if you want to play in the international scene, the training, knowledge and skill sets really need to improve consider-ably.”

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During the publication of this issue, CTEX achieved TIER-IV facility certification on January 31, 2014, making it the first multi-tenant data center in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the 13th data center worldwide to achieve both design and constructed facility TIER-IV certification.


Curaçao Business Magazine (CBM): How did you get started? Was Café Barista your first business? Cedric Sprock (CS): Before starting Café Barista I worked for an offshore company called Schlumberger Limited, the world’s largest oil-field services company. During the five years that I worked there, I started my MBA at UNA. Once you get into working and studying, you start thinking about the future. Taking a look at all I accomplished so far in life, I got the feeling that if I can do all this for an employer being a good employee, why not do it for myself? After finishing my MBA in 1994, I asked my boss at Schlumberger what was the next step for me. It was my goal to be an expat for the company in Houston, TX. However, that was not possible because of a personnel stop due to the effect on oil when Chavez came into power. At that point I thought: if there is nothing else for me, I want to start my own thing. I started looking into coffee because, after petroleum, coffee is the biggest commodity worldwide. I researched the business

of coffee and then flew to Bogota, Columbia where I took a coffee course. In this course we went through all the facets of what goes in to making a good cup of coffee, starting with plant-ing coffee seeds to the cup of coffee itself. At that point, I fell in love with the coffee business. I came back to Curaçao and quit Schlumberger on good terms, explaining that since I couldn’t advance further I wanted to start my own com-pany. I believe that if you start something on a good note, you should finish it on a good note and I felt it was best to be truthful with them. Schlumberger is a good company. Their phi-losophy is that they invest in people and it goes back to the community, so that thought process allowed us to part on good terms. Today, they even have Café Barista coffee machines in their office.

In 2004, I quit my job, sold my car, rented my house, moved to a small apartment and started my company with nothing. With the excess cash I had, I rented the Mahaai location, bought a roaster and coffee machine and used a money-box with one key as my cash register. I also did some interior changes. At that time I started dating my wife and some of the furniture in the shop came from her apartment.

I was my first employee. Soon after, the man-agement accountant of Schlumberger, Cynthia Leonora, came to work with me as my financial manager and I another person to help us make the coffee. I was in the kitchen preparing food and roasting coffee. I also delivered fresh coffee to various offices for free in air pots, telling

In this issue, Curaçao Business is featuring Cedric Sprock of Café Barista in our “Rise to the Top” feature. Mr. Sprock is a self-made star on our island with a global outlook on business, a philanthrop-ic spirit and is still an island boy at heart. At the age of 41 and in his second career, he was able to fulfill his dream of having THE coffee of Curaçao in less than 10 years. Mr. Sprock gave a few minutes of his valuable time to allow Curaçao Business magazine to ask him a few questions about how he made it to the top.

Rise to the Top – with Cedric Sprock of Café Barista

BUSINESS



Feature story

them about us, a new, local company, while offering them the complimentary sample of our coffee.

My nephew, Carlos Chap, eventually came to work for me as operations manager and in 2006, my wife, Nanda Sprock-van Hoven came to work with me as the personnel and legal manager, both from Schlumberger. We are all Schlumberger-minded people working in Café Barista and that’s a good thing because we understand the local business, plus we have a global way of thinking.

In 2006 we won the bid at the airport and opened two locations there. In 2007 we opened the Avila store, in 2009 the location at Baskin Robbins, which has since closed, and in 2012 we bought the Deli France locations. We are currently giving the airport locations a facelift and, if the economy improves, we will do the

same for the Deli France locations. It’s always good to update the locations to maintain inter-est of the public. It’s also good for the com-petition because they see that you are always busy. On Curaçao people like to imitate, so the moment they try I’m already doing something else.

CBM: How long were you running the business before you started paying yourself? How did you live through those first years?CS: The first two years of working for Café Barista I didn’t get a salary. Everything I made was reinvested. In the third year, once we opened the airport locations, I was able to start paying myself. In the beginning, it was more about sacrifice than about getting an income, but on the other side, I had much less stress than when I was working in a corporate environment.

CBM: How has your management style changed over the years?CS: None, it’s the same. I’m still that funny, easily accessible, open guy. I want to know what people think and I want to hear feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. I actually want to hear more of the negative things so I


In 2004, I quit my job, sold my car, rented my house, moved to a small apartment and started my company with nothing.

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know what I need to change. I want to enjoy what I’m doing and I want my employees to enjoy what they are doing also. I don’t want to become that corporate guy that I used to be. I want to be free, live the island life, and have a good income so I can enjoy life with my family.

CBM: How big do you plan for Café Barista to become? Keep it small or expand? What are your future plans?CS: Is bigger better? No. I really want to be the best on the island of Curaçao. I’m not interested in going abroad to the other islands, the US or anywhere else. I will be big, but big in the sense of an island company, like what I am now after nine years. I’m not inter-ested in getting bigger than this; my wife for sure is not. The goal now is to be “THE coffee of Curaçao.” It’s not about being big, but about letting the people on the island know that as a local company we can do good things and be professional, all while maintaining an international level of quality.

CBM: How do you balance work and family?CS: I used to be a workaholic type of guy. When I started the business I was only working, even on Sundays because the airport is open 7 days a week. One year, I was preparing the set up for the Christmas Collection at the WTC and I was overworked and exhausted. I was unloading and fell out of the truck. I got a concussion and for two days I didn’t know who I was. I think that was the wake up call. I thought, why keep on working that hard and at a certain point something happens to me and I can’t enjoy it. I needed to balance my life - mentally, physically, family, everything. At that point, I decided to hire a food and beverage manager, Roberto Alcantara, formerly from Breezes Hotel, to relieve me from overworking. I also decided to not work on the weekends or if I do have to work, it’s only for three to four hours. Little by little, I had to disci-pline myself to stick to this.

CBM: Did you have a mentor?CS: Yes, my brother in law, Lilo Sulvaran, and my sister, Mylene Sulvaran-Sprock. It’s very important to have a mentor. Every entrepreneur should have a mentor or someone to talk to, not only accountants, banks, etc., but someone with whom you have a personal relationship.

CBM: What do you think is your biggest accomplishment so far?CS: First, my wife and kids are my big-gest accomplishments. After that, my biggest accomplishments are becoming an employer of 88 people and having a very good cup of coffee for the tourists and everyone on the island of Curaçao – really having something good to offer that people can only get on Curaçao. To see people who live on the island at home drinking Café Barista, our coffee machines at their office, tourists coming to our locations drinking Café Barista and going to the hotels that cater and use Café Barista as their prod-uct - it’s a big accomplishment.

CBM: Is there anything you’d like to add?CS: I still want to add that as a local entrepreneur, the government, the banks and all official, well-established companies on Curaçao need to give more input and support to those who want to start a business on the island. I think there are many people with good ideas who want to be entrepreneurs, but it’s difficult to get started. Perhaps if they get the input and push from the government and banks, there will be more people like me. Maybe I suc-ceeded because I’m a very determined guy and I was very open to sacrifice everything to start my company. The Chamber of Commerce was one of the companies that gave me good advice and pointed me in the right direc-tion when I was getting started. The Chamber is like the center point that can guide you, but still you need to go to the bank, an accountant, etc.

For more information about the coffee, store

locations, etc., visit their webpage at

www.cafebarista.net.

BUSINESS


Curaçao Business Magazine (CBM): What drove you to study tax law? Zuleika Lasten (ZL): At 17 years old, I wanted to study some-thing from which I can make a good living. I thought that the way our communities are organized, we will always have to deal with taxes, so I figured I would definitely have a future

in that area of expertise. Having made my decision, I went to Holland to study fiscal law and I have never regretted my choice. I have always had an affinity for studying tax law, not only while studying, but while working as well. It’s so dynamic — each client, individual and multi-national has different tax needs, so you can never get bored. I’m very passionate about it

Beyond the Glass Ceiling

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In this issue, we feature Zuleika Lasten, the first woman appoint-ed as partner at PwC Dutch Caribbean. She was also just recent-ly appointed as the PwC Diversity and Inclusion Leader. She is a woman of vision and conviction, and “her passion, commitment to excellence and ability to empathize in the position of others” are the qualities that inspired PwC to promote her to this high-level position. Ms. Lasten took time from her busy schedule to talk to Curaçao Business magazine about how she achieved her success.TEXT HEATHER DE PAULO

I think sometimes it’s more diffi-cult when a woman reaches the top because you are a mom as well — you have your family so you have to juggle everything.


and I love to find creative solutions within the fiscal framework to provide for and add value to my clients.

CBM: Discuss your road to making partner in PWC — the idea of starting from the ground floor and working your way up.ZL: My first and only employer has been PwC. After I finished studying fiscal law, I started my career at PwC in the Netherlands in the year 2000. Even when I first started working as a tax assis-tant, the ultimate goal of becoming tax partner was always at the back of my mind. It starts with being committed, dedicated and passionate about the work, continuously delivering good quality and learning – investing in learning. In 2003, I moved back to Curaçao and continued working with PwC. In total, I’ve been with PwC for over 13 years. I always knew that in order to move ahead, I had to deliver and invest more than what was expected and that I would have to make some sacrifices. I also knew that I had to take personal responsibility and action for implementing envisioned changes and ideas. I gave everything in my power to ensure a valu-able contribution to the team, PwC and our clients.

CBM: How do you balance your personal and professio-nal life?ZL: I think it all boils down to good planning, as well as mutual understanding, love and support from family members. You have to plan everything efficiently and have good communication. That’s the key.

CBM: Did you have a mentor?ZL: My mother and my family are very strong driving forces to whom I’m grateful for all my achievements. I’m totally drilled by my mother. She’s my inspiration to be very disciplined and ambitious, to try to excel and not settle for less; those are the core principles on which I was raised. When you try to excel, your clients will be loyal to you because they see you will go the extra mile for them.

CBM: What is your perspective on a woman working her way up in a ‘man’s world?’ZL: I think sometimes it’s more difficult when a woman reaches the top because you are a mom as well — you have your family so you have to juggle everything. Especially with someone like me who strives for excellence, sometimes you have to make sacrifices; how-ever, I think it’s quite an achievement when you can reach the top. I believe for every woman there is equal opportunity. It depends on the priorities that each woman would like to set. I’m a mother, a wife, a career woman, a professional and a tax partner, and until now, I am able to combine everything perfectly. I think that if you want to achieve something, the possibility is there. It’s a matter of setting your priorities and goals and working hard to achieve them.

CBM: Sheryl Sandberg, CEO of Facebook, is quoted from her book as saying that feminine characteristics are not rewarded or valued at work, however, women exhibiting traits that are supposedly masculine are scorned. What do you think about this and how you do you think you have overcome this paradigm? ZL: It’s a difficult question, but I think from the very beginning I didn’t want to be labeled as a woman who had to prove herself,

so at work, I never wanted to behave like a feminist. I think every individual has his or her strengths; you have to have a vision about what you think is important and you have to take steps and work hard to achieve those visions. You have to have confidence and conviction and be focused on what you want to achieve — be result-oriented. I think when you achieve the goals you set, others around you start believing in you; this makes you a leader. Others start following you because they realize that she doesn’t just say something – it happens. I think in every aspect of your life, private or business, your focus becomes your reality. A good example is the great inventors of the world. People initially thought their ideas were crazy or impossible, but it has been proven time and again that even what seems impossible is possible.

CBM: If a young girl walked up to asking for your advice, what would it be?ZL: Set your goals, believe in yourself and work hard to achieve those goals. Be creative, do not think in problems — think in opportunities. Always look for the solution.

CBM: What is your next goal?ZL: For PwC Dutch Caribbean to grow further, to increase the number of talented people already working for us and to increase our presence, not only in the local markets we are already servic-ing: Aruba, Bonaire, St. Maarten, and Curaçao, but also in the Latin American market. I want PwC Dutch Caribbean to be recog-nized for its talents and the added value we can bring to our clients.

CBM: Have you ever thought about going on your own?ZL: Along the way those opportunities have presented themselves. Sometimes you think about it, but I’m a very social person and I think it’s more fun to create something together with people than to create it by myself. I love to motivate people, invest in their knowl-edge and watch them grow. The good part is that in the end, you can celebrate the achievements, not by yourself, but together with others. To me, that has much greater value than being on my own.

CBM: Do you have anything else to add?ZL: As we all strive to accomplish our dreams, it is important to keep an attitude of gratitude for the people in our lives and to appreciate even the smallest things.

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I always knew that in order to move ahead, I had to deliver and invest more than what was expected and that I would have to make some sacrifices.


The journey in itself taught us many lessons; lessons that have helped us understand the needs of our clients, the communities we serve and the competitive environment in which we operate. This journey has demanded that, as a group, we recognize and harness the benefits of a strategic focus on our core business in our core markets as one team.After months of research, planning and collabo-ration, we completed a very challenging task: to create an image that will rightfully represent who we are and what we do to our stakeholders. Today, we can celebrate our new brand and com-mitment to our redefined vision and mission.

What the new brand stands for Our Group is now at a watershed period in its history. In spite of the challenges of an uncer-tain global economic future, we are geared for a quantum leap in our growth and success. We have re-defined our new direction with a new vision, mission and set of core values for the whole Group and articulated a value proposition that sets us apart from our competitors, which contains the seeds of our future success.

Our vision and missionOur new vision: ‘To be the customer’s pre-ferred choice in financial planning and insur-ance’ identifies our core competencies and strengths and speaks to our business focus and desired positioning. To achieve this vision, we have a mission that states: “We shall operate as one integrated, customer-centric company, a company which sees the world through its

customer’s eyes and delivers its brand promise consistently at every touch point.”We took the time to understand our history, which for us is more of a legacy, that includes over 165 years in the English-speaking Caribbean and over 107 years in the Dutch-speaking Caribbean. As we move forward, our mission should celebrate this legacy, but also carry us into the future. As we drafted our mission, we needed to articulate the state of mind that would be a road map for every mem-ber of our staff, across all of our nine main member companies. Our mission states that we shall be an integrated company, one that is customer-centric, and one that sees the world through its customer’s eyes. System integration will be one of the main drivers of this mission, and when fully integrated, our systems and processes will be consistent and congruent, thereby providing maximum benefit to our cli-ents. We will have an even better view of who our customers are and what we need to do to service them more effectively.With over one thousand of the industry’s best agents, brokers and investment analysts, our extensive distribution channels go beyond brick and mortar; it is about consistently and reliably serving our customers, building long-term relationships and contributing to our communities.

Code of conductTrust, integrity, quality and serving people define our code of conduct, our guiding prin-ciples and our modus operandi as a Group. We

In January 2011, the board and executive committee of Guardian Holdings Limited participated in the evalu-ation and assessment of Guardian Holdings Group (Group), with the intention of understanding and iden-tifying how our clients saw us and how that was aligned with how we wanted to be seen and understood. It was then that the rebranding journey began.

The Rebranding Initiative of Guardian Group

BUSINESS

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WITH STEVEN MARTINA, PRESIDENT & CEO AT GUARDIAN GROUP FATUM


made one change to our core values; trust has replaced growth. Growth is still an integral part of our values; growth has driven our business decisions over the past nine months. We’ve been very busy, aggressively growing the Group and strengthening our leadership position within key markets. During this period, we acquired three new subsidiaries – Royal Sun Alliance in the Dutch Caribbean, Thoma in the Netherlands and Globe in Jamaica. However, the local and global socio-economic environment over at least the last five years calls for a strong focus on trust in corporate life and we see this as paramount to our lines of business. We manage our cli-ents’ risks and naturally trust is essential in that relationship.

Was rebranding really needed? I have been asked by many, “Did you really need to rebrand to make these strategic deci-

sions?” The simple answer is yes. Our new single brand removes the silos; it is a mani-festation, a visual representation, of a new internal state of being. Not until we achieved this new internal state of being, which is the alignment of our vision, image and corporate culture, could we have succeeded in re-brand-ing the Group. A new logo is not a new brand; it simply sets the tone for a singular mindset - becoming one team with one focus. If compa-nies do not proactively and positively manage their brands, they fall victim to allowing the market define who and what they are. This is how misconceptions are construed and how marketing opportunities are missed. The cor-porate brand or corporate image is a dynamic and profound affirmation of the nature, culture and structure of an organization. Everything an organization does, and does not do, affects the perception of that organization and its per-formance, products, and services.

ReasonSome of our critics will postulate financial instability as the reason for the rebrand but our strength, stability and performance of our various companies over the years speak for themselves. The ‘Jamaica Gleaner’ newspaper and Mona School of Business in Jamaica selected Guardian Holdings Limited (GHL) as winner of the 2003 Gilt Edged Golden Awards for Jamaica and the Caribbean, Most Admired Company in Trinidad and Tobago in 2003 and the Caribbean Company of the Year in 2000. Guardian Life has captured awards from the Jamaica Stock Exchange for online report-ing in 2008, 2009 and 2010. It was also the proud recipient of the Trinidad & Tobago Energy Chamber 2009 Leadership Award for ‘Sustaining the Environment: Making the Most of Green Opportunities.’In 2011, Guardian Life of the Caribbean


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(GLOC) was awarded World Finance Insurance Company of the year and for an unprecedented 4th time GHL was named World Finance Company of the Decade 2001-2010. For the last 10 years GLOC and Guardian General Insurance Limited (GGIL) has maintained one of the highest rating cat-egories from A.M. Best. In 2011 and 2012, A.M. Best re-affirmed the financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and issued credit rat-ings of A- for GLOC and GGIL. According to A.M. Best, “The affirmation of the ratings of GLOC and GGIL reflect GHL’s stable leverage position and consolidated balance sheet strength, favorable operating results and premium growth over the past several years.” Just recently, Guardian Group Fatum Aruba won the Aruba Best in Business Award for 2013-2014. There is nothing to dispute, Guardian Holdings and its member companies are financially stable and strong.

Value your workforce We recognize the tremendous value of our workforce; for us, internal branding is very critical to business success. The true essence of a successful organization is when our employees mirror our public mission in their everyday actions. We remain committed to building our staff’s knowledge of the brand and will continue to ultimately engage them in this process.

The logo To me, our logo is very inspiring. The logo represents all the member companies of the group, our clients, where they live, where we operate and the financial peace of mind we provide to them. I would like to cite Marlon Darbeau, our Creative Director: “We began by considering the features Caribbean warmth and basic human commu-nication. This brought us to the point where we analyzed ‘a smile,’ which is a universal expression of positive energy. It was impor-tant for us to capture the energy, radiance and brightness of this expression and its relation

to what we wanted to achieve with the new identity. Exploring further, we began to look at truly Caribbean nuances of warmth, joy, happiness, ease and peace of mind. This led us to consider symbols like hammocks, sailboats, actual sails, even looking at modern architec-ture and how dynamic those expressions are in reality. This brought us to a critical point of convergence of all of these ideas into one single identity.”I truly believe this new brand signature will help us stand out from the crowd and will assist us in establishing and deepening our leadership role in all of our markets.I am very excited about what this new brand signals for Guardian Group. We are at the cusp

of a new period of outstanding performance. We have the people, we have the tools, we have the focus and we have the right approach. I am proud of what we have achieved as a team and would like to thank my executive team, our employees, our brokers, our partners, our valued clients, the press, the regulators and all our stakeholders for the trust in our vision and invite them to continue the journey with us in the rebranding of Guardian Group.

Guardian Group is a leading integrated financial services

group, delivering asset management, Life, Health and

Pensions and Property & Casualty products with pre-

sence in 21 countries throughout the English and Dutch

Caribbean.

Steven Martina

‘Open Skies’ Aviation Treaty Signed with BrazilOn December 3, 2013, Curaçao and Brazil signed an ‘Open Skies’ aviation tre-aty. The treaty makes it possible for airlines to fly between or via both coun-tries. According to the Minister of Traffic, Transport and Regional Planning, Earl Balborda, the treaty is an important outline that creates many possibilities for the hub function of Curaçao, as well as other economic sectors involved with air transport, including tourism. With the World Cup 2014 being held in Brazil, this could be very beneficial for Curaçao. According to Maurice Adriaens, director of Curaçao Airport Holding (CAH), several Brazilian airline companies that want to fly to the United States have to make a stopover somewhere, so the treaty al-lows Curaçao to be one of these hubs. Furthermore, Curaçao airline companies can now fly to Brazil, which was complicated before the treaty, due to bureau-cratic reasons. Balborda hopes to expand Curaçao’s current number of treaties (13) with even more countries.

Curaçao Promoted in Japan as a Vacation DestinationStanley Palm, Minister of Economic Development, paid a visit to Japan to promote Curaçao. He met with Luc Delaplace, the Director of KLM, who said he is willing to help promote Curaçao in Japan. KLM has already been marketing Amsterdam as a hub in Europe to the Japanese. The idea is to price the Netherlands and Curaçao as a dual destination, where both coun-tries could benefit. Besides meeting with Delaplace, Palm also visited Harue Nakagawa of the Japanese division of the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions. Palm was told that the Japanese are known to enjoy travelling abroad to explore art and culture. Since the Japanese receive 20 vacation days a year, they would be willing to travel long distances. Curaçao’s golden boy, homerun king Wladimir ‘Coco’ Ten Bale, plays for a Japanese club, so promoting his home island could attract Japanese tourists to choose Cura-çao as a vacation destination.

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NEWS


Curaçao Tourists Board Figures on September/October 2013The Curaçao Tourist Board (CTB) published interim data on September and October 2013. The figures show an increase in the total number of stay-over tourists of four percent in September and eight percent in October, with a total of over 71,000 tou-rists visiting the island during those two months. These figures include tourists from all over the world, including Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and North America. The European market showed the largest increase with 11 percent more tou-rists, with tourists from Germany increasing by a whopping 25 percent, as compared to the same time last year. Tourists from Latin America also increased, with a three per-cent increase in September and a 23 per-cent increase in October. The largest incre-ase came from Venezuela and the largest decline was from Brazilian tourists, with a decrease of 30 percent in September and 49 percent in October. Visitors from North America and the Caribbean both decre-ased at an average of nine and a half per-cent and five percent, respectively.

Co-Creating Scharloo

CREATIVITY

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Inspiration is the fuel of the future - new concepts, new views, new ways. “Escape the boundaries of traditional thinking, just have plain old fun with your brain… and share ideas with others!” This is the core philosophy of Creative Lab Curaçao, a collective of more than 25 people work-ing in 20 creative disciplines. Architects, art directors, copywriters, brand strategist, advertising creatives, concept developers, social media specialists, graphic designers, photographers, startup exchange and pub-lishers; all work together and complement each other as independent colleagues.

Initiator Gonneke van den Kieboom, brand and advertis-ing strategist and business innovator, is very sincere about why she came up with the idea: “Purely selfish! To fuel my creativity I need people, smart thinkers and audacious “doers” around me. Working together and together working - making, creating, developing, and innovating. I like to be surprised, amazed, and occasionally completely baffled. To innovate, we need to be kicked out of balance a little. That’s why we gathered up many creative people from different backgrounds and work together to increase and improve not only our individual, but also our collective creative output. We each serve our own clients and also work together on a project basis.”

Van den Kieboom found a partner in N.V. Stadsherstel Willemstad, an organization that leases out buildings with historical character, mainly in Scharloo. The enclave in Scharloo Abou facilitates this creative venture — a block of four separate buildings on Werfstraat, Bitterstraat and Van Raderstraat, bordering on the vibrant local neighborhood of Fleur de Marie. One enters through the gate between the Maimi Building and the pastel pink ‘pakhuis’ (warehouse) that previously housed D’Art Gallery. The innocent passerby would never know the vigor hidden behind the century old doors of these buildings if it weren’t for the obvious display


TEXT WOW! INNOVATION, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION

of creative names and logos at the entrance. With company names like Invictus, Loket 1, Studio Jip, MiCasa, StudioBunker, WOW!, InZaken, OeverzaaijerLyongo and Progaya, one immediately understands the collective’s attraction to a diverse clientele. Van de Sande Projects, Progaya and Oeverzaaijer Lyongo were the first to open their offices, followed by the temporary residence of the complete production team of the film Tula, the Revolt. Soon after, Loket 1, publisher of Coaching Magazine followed. Then marketing commu-nication agency WOW!, business innovator copyrightG, DTP StudioBunker and graphic designer StudioJip all made the move in November of 2012. In February, InZaken marketing and project management joined the group, combining forces in the upstairs office. copyrightG designed the open space office to be completely flexible with large tables specifically developed to facilitate the diversity of disciplines teaming up in one space and to stimulate the creative process. In April 2013, Startup Stock Exchange SSX started their international organization and in

June architect Invictus joined. By the year’s end, a cooperation of professional photogra-phers is also expected to move into the Lab. “For our clients, this collective functions as a one-stop creative shop. We can take on almost any assignment, because we combine forces in a very natural manner. We quickly assess the scope of the assignment, gather specialists and form dedicated project teams. The fun part is that after only a year we have practical evidence that this synergy really works! We invite ‘competi-colleagues’ to join this full-service, creative force.” Huddling together is paying off: WOW! teams up with Studio Jip and Studio Bunker for cli-

ents like InselAir and Centrale Hypotheek Bank; Progaya teamed up with WOW! and Studio Jip to develop the visual identity for Fundashon Kas Popular’s new housing plan ‘Wechi’; StudioBunker works closely with Van de Sande Projects and Progaya on their visual identity in cooperation with outside art director and colleague EJpeg; while InZaken and WOW! team up for clients BakerTilly De Paus Vesseur, Swiss Sense and Centrale Hypotheek Bank and Curaçao Airport Holding; copyrightG functions as advisory strategist for N.V. Stadsherstel Willemstad in developing new office concepts for the port-folio of Stadherstel’s monumental buildings and the creation of public awareness for the value of monumental heritage; SSX is coach-ing copyrightG to get one of copyrightG’s concepts ready to enter the Exchange. “We all greatly enjoy working together, learn-ing from each other’s expertise, which adds value for our respective clients. Occasionally we meet for drinks on the balcony, where we meet each other’s networks and share experiences.” Creative Lab Curaçao aims to attract more companies to further fill the creative vibe. “We welcome anyone who wants to con-tribute their inspiration and thrive with the stimulation of the companies that are already here. We are working on the introduction concepts, like workshops, inspirational pres-entations, think tanks and exhibitions, which will be introduced under the label of Creative Lab Curaçao. If it’s up to me, Creative Lab Curaçao will develop to be a platform for development and innovation. The growing group of companies encourages brands, organizations and individuals to join in the inspiring broadening of horizons by forming unconventional alliances. We don’t compete with any of the other creative companies

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“Creative Lab Curaçao is a collective of more than 25 people working in 20 creative disciplines.”

“If it’s up to me, Creative Lab Curaçao will develop to be a platform for develop-ment and innovation.”

INVICTUS Architects

OeverzaaijerLyongo


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on our island. We aspire to co-create, in any shape or form imaginable,” says Van den Kieboom.

Meet the creative labbersStudio Jip develops original designs for visual identity, advertising campaigns, trendy magazines and innovative communication concepts. With over five years of inspiring a long list of brands in Europe as well as the Pan Caribbean, Studio Jip has reinvented the synergy between European sophistication and Caribbean warmth. For more informa-tion: www.studiojip.com

“Creative without strategy is called art. Creative with strat-egy is called advertising.” (D. Ogilvy). WOW! innovation, marketing & communication focuses on strategic advertising by cooperating with organizations to shape their marketing relevance. Using Total Concepting as their marketing com-munication systematic tool, WOW! creates engaging omni media communication campaigns so that brands and people really meet and interact. For more information: [email protected].

copyrightG innovates business by creating inspiring brand transitions towards future ambitions of brands and their organizations. Combining insight in worldwide trends, con-sumer behavior and technological progress, they catalyze transformation of the old into the new and the non-existent into boundless possibilities. copyrightG also brings new business concepts to market under its own label. For more information: www.copyrightg.com.

CREATIVITY

“We don’t compete with any of the other creative companies on our island. We aspire to co-create, in any shape or form imaginable.”

Office Studio Jip & INVICTUS Architects


INVICTUS Architects is a young architecture studio, founded by Thijs Giskes. After graduating at the Technical University of Delft, Thijs worked at several architecture studios in the Netherlands (such as the Architectural Office of the Dutch Government) and on Curaçao, before launching INVICTUS. INVICTUS Architects work with a vast network of companies in construction, real estate and the creative sector, both on Curaçao and in the Netherlands. For more information: www.invictus-caribbean.com/ StudioBunker has years of pre-press experience and a keen eye for graphic detail. The combina-tion of speed with accuracy, and ample experience in ‘out of the box’ solutions for graphic projects, drives the vast growth of StudioBunker’s clientele. Teaming up with art directors and advertising agencies, StudioBunker assures a steady flow of graphic output: advertising, flyers, folders, bill-boards, web-publicity, magazine DTP, pre-press and book typesetting. For more information: [email protected].

N.V. Stadsherstel Willemstad’s primary goal is to restore and preserve the physical historic heritage of Curaçao. With an unshakable belief in Scharloo’s potential as a bustling city business center, Stadsherstel transforms beautiful historic buildings into offices, retail venues, restaurants, bars, art studios and housing. Stadsherstel sup-ports Creative Lab by facilitating innovative office concepts in the monumental Bitterstraat-block. For more information: www.stadsherstel.comInZaken manages marketing and communication projects for an array of brands. Making a seam-less connection between the client’s company on one side, and strategic and creative specialists on the other, InZaken is an active guardian of brand image and relevance for the client’s target audiences. Known and praised for always keeping all involved on the chosen track, InZaken is a conscientious partner in the development of brand communication. For more information: [email protected].

VandeSande Projects and ProGaya are engaged in design and research in the field of architecture and urbanism. Their work is not limited by scale, phase or function. They work on all kinds of spatial design assignments. From small architec-tural projects and urban plans to subdivision plans in all aspects: design, cost estimation, planning, guidance, and advice on policy, approach and organization of spatial development plans. The agencies are very flexible and work with the best experts to deliver a consistent level of high quality to the their clients. For more information: www.vandesandeprojects.com

“The right balance in living together.” At OeverzaaijerLyongo, corporate social respon-sibility is about much more than simply saving energy and a cleaner climate. It’s about creating the best possible living conditions: the interplay between a space and its users. For this reason, OeverzaaijerLyongo makes respectful use of natural resources, cooperates intensively with many parties and exchanges information with them. This allows them to achieve a sustainable, well-balanced final result for people and their environment. For more information: www.oeverzaaijerlyongo.com

Uitgeverij Loket 1 is a local publishing com-pany established in 2003. The main focus of this publisher is the widely known Coaching, a local magazine that recently celebrated its tenth anniversary. Local managers, business people and professionals co-create, read and exchange the content of Coaching. The magazine is well known on the island for its quality interviews and contemporary design. Besides advertising in Coaching, organizations can also use the writing and design expertise of Loket 1 to develop and publish their own in-company magazines. For more information: www.loket1.com

Inspired by Creative Lab Curaçao? Contact us to become one of our creative clients or to talk about office possibilities at +599 9 5154011. You can also check out our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Creative-Lab-Çuracao/364247367037683

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“To innovate, we need to be kicked out of balance a little. ”

Gonnelce van den KieboomWow! Marketing

VandeSande Projects

Loket 1

Stock Exchange SSXC U R A Ç A O B U S I N E S S | N U M B E R 1 | 2 0 1 4

PwC Celebrates its 75th Anniversary

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It all started 75 years ago, in May 1938, when the first of-fice, Accountants & Belasting Consulenten van Vooren (Accountants & Tax Consultants van Vooren), was es-tablished on Curaçao at Madurostraat 6 for a mere 80 guilders a month. From that moment, PwC (as it is called today) became a part of the Curaçao community.


The first auditors were Piet Laurijssen and Ko Blom, and later, Ph. Keller. Soon after the office opened, the beginning of World War II had an impact on the company in the Netherlands Antilles. However, work in the region, including Suriname, Venezuela and Aruba, provided enough business to keep the company going. Due to the scarcity of staff during the war, much effort was made to maintain enough staff-ing to allow the company to run efficiently.


SplitDue to a change in regulations after World War II, the tax and audit work was split amongst two companies: Accountants & Belasting Consulenten van Vooren and Accountantskantoor Oudhoff en Besançon (Accountant office Oudhoff & Besançon), for the audit work. The company continued to grow, both in workload and, consequently, staff, so it was necessary to increase office space as well. From Madurostraat, the offices moved to locations such as Columbusstraat, De Ruyterkade, Pietermaai and finally, Julianaplein, where PwC is presently located.

ChangesFrom 1938 to the present, the company name has changed numerous times and there have been a total of 26 partners. The name changes were due to various mergers over the years. From Accountants & Belasting Consulenten van Vooren, the company underwent sev-eral mergers with other companies form-ing names such as Besançon Koppenberg & Co and Van Uden Besançon Koppenberg & Co. In 1988, the company continued as Van Dien & Co., in 1989 Deloitte Dijker van Dien, 1990, Coopers & Lijbrand Dijker van Dien; 1992, Coopers & Lijbrand and in 1998, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The trading name was shortened to PwC in September 2010 as part of a major rebranding exercise, as it remains today.From Curaçao, the company established itself on the other islands of the Netherlands Antilles: Aruba in 1948, St. Maarten in 1967 and Bonaire in 1994. In 1951, an office was opened in Caracas under the name Van Dien & Co.

LinkThe link between the residents and businesses of the Leeward Islands in Venezuela were such that it was permitted to open a branch in Caracas. During this period, the economy of Venezuela was developing rapidly as a result of large-scale economic activities, includ-ing the production of oil and iron ore. Less than seven years later, in 1958, Venezuela’s economy collapsed due to the turbulent political situation. This affected the company’s Caracas office, which had grown consider-ably with clients in South American countries

such as Ecuador and Peru. The deterioration of the economic situation in Venezuela made it necessary to reduce the workforce in that office, and the company was forced to share office space with the foreign company, DH & S. A few years later, the economy improved slightly, but competition also increased. In 1975, Fred Stumeyer became partner and managed the Caracas office. However, when Stumeyer died in 1981, it was decided for the company to be acquired by DH & S and thus an end to the establishment of Van Dien & Co. in Venezuela.

Not defeatedOn May 30, 1969, the day of the great rebel-lion on Curaçao, the company was located on Columbusstraat. Although the office building was not located in the heart of where the riots took place, a car parked in front of the building was torched and caused the whole building to burn down. Very little was salvaged from the fire and many documents were lost, includ-ing PwC history archives, making the job of tracing the history of the company the work of a detective.

The aftermath of the catastrophe would affect the company for many years, but it was not defeated. After Columbusstraat, the office moved temporarily to a building on De Ruyterkade. A year later, the burned-out building on Columbusstraat was partially restored so that the company could return to its former location and shortly afterwards, the complete restoration of the building was complete.

New buildingOn September 29, 1984, the new building of PwC, then Van Dien & Co., at Pietermaai 20A was symbolically opened by Governor of the Netherlands Antilles at the time, Prof. Dr. René Römer, along with JJ Goedhart R.A, who was the chairman of the partnership at that time. This office had space for 30 people, plus a room with a copy machine, a library and a fireproof safe for the archive. There was also a meeting room and a waiting area with a receptionist desk.PricewaterhouseCoopers was created in 1998 when Coopers & Lybrand merged with Price Waterhouse in an attempt to gain a scale that would put the new firm in a different league. That same year was the official opening of the new building of PricewaterhouseCoopers on the Julianaplein. PwC exists there today, occupying two of the buildings at Julianaplein 38, housing approximately 85 staff members.

Even with all of the changes over the years, the organizational culture of PwC is a constant factor. This culture is based on integrity, entrepreneurial spirit, professionalism and corporate social responsibility. Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the company on Curaçao would not have been possible without its cus-tomers and staff. In the coming years, without any doubt there will be changes and challenges, in economi-cal and financial terms, locally and globally. However, the focal point of the company will always remain the clients and employees.

PwC is a network of firms in 157 countries and employs

more than 184,000 people. The company provides a

broad range of financial and consultancy services such

as tax efficient international planning and structuring;

assurance and accounting; strategy, human resource

and IT advisory services and administrative and payroll

services.

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It should be realized that without business and professional services, economic development would almost be non-existent.


ChangeAround 100 people gathered at The Triangle, a sustain-able office building in Otrobanda, where the TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat was held. Some were individuals looking for inspiration; others came with colleagues looking for new

ideas for their work field. One thing became really clear that day: Curaçao needs change and the people of Curaçao are ready to take on the challenge to make those changes. TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat speakers, as well as visitors, emphasized the importance of sustainability and creativity to develop the island. TEDCity2.0 speakers in New York, shown via live stream, also inspired the public to think outside the box and make changes happen. Examples are Janette Sadik-Khan who puts pedestrians at the forefront of transportation policy in New York City, and Robin Nagle who creates beauty from trash.

Everything is possibleLocal speaker Kurt Schoop can certainly relate to creating beauty out of trash. Schoop is the man behind Oasis Game, a project from Brazil that he implements on Curaçao. The idea of Oasis Game is to help residents improve their neighborhood with materials that seem worthless. He starts every project

One hundred thirty eight communities around the world talked about the future of the city during the TEDCity2.0 on the 20th of September, 2013. Curaçao was one of these communities and ten local speakers shared their thoughts about the future of the island. “The reactions after the event were quite good,” Priscilla Lotman, one of the organizers of TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat, said. “We wanted to measure up to international standards and this was exciting; we are happy everyone was truly satisfied.”

Change, sustainability and civic power

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TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat


TEXT ELISA KOEK

with charting the dreams of the participants. The next phase is to take one big dream and make it a reality. “There is a connection between your life, your house and your neighborhood. I learned from a very young age that all three influence each other,” Schoop explains. “I help people improve their neighborhoods and at the same time their life.” The Oasis Game already took place in Otrobanda, Nieuw Nederland and Klein Santa Martha. “I have seen great things. In Klein Santa Marta the residents created a meeting point which includes a sports area and a shelter for the sun. Some attendees are really creative and show others that everything is possible. This goes for the government as well: if you show them it can really happen, they start believing too.”

Make change happenBuilding a city, or an island in this case, in a sustainable way is something local TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat speaker Andres Casimiri has tried to ‘sell’ for years. The founder of Greentown explained how Curaçao could be an example for the whole world. “Every country has ‘brown fields’,” Casimiri states. “In Curaçao this is the location of the refinery. We can show the world how to preserve this area and how to make it profit-able.” Although Casimiri is a little disappointed to see a lot more familiar than new faces at this TEDx event, he thinks the discussion about sustainability is ongoing and that awareness is growing. “I would like to see other faces, people who don’t know about Greentown or about creating a green environment, but durability is not appealing to everybody yet. However, I think we are in a transition period; the whole world is. Young people are sick of how things are being run and there is a plea for change. The next generation will make change happen.”

“I see Curaçao as a company”Raygen Zuiverloon, CEO of Downtown Management Organization (DMO), attended TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat to get inspired. He has always loved cities and even feels that they made him who he is now. “I lived in Rotterdam for years and as a result I started DMO. However, I’m not attending TEDx just for the future of Punda and Otrobanda. I see Curaçao as one big city where development needs to grow. I see this island as a company: you need to work for it.” Zuiverloon also feels the world around him is changing and Curaçao needs to keep up with this. “While society used to outpace people, people are now outpacing society. There is less certainty and the world powers are slowly losing their grip. It’s time to make change happen ourselves. How are we going to handle this?”

Bianca Neman, another TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat visitor, totally agreed with this point of view. She feels changes should be made by citizens. “You can’t count on government anymore,” Neman says. “Our children are going abroad to study, but most of them don’t return. We need to think about ways to make the island appealing again and stop the brain drain. We can’t wait for the government to start building the island; we need to do it ourselves. I think this day showed us that many people in Curaçao have great ideas and are ambitious. I have heard won-derful stories today and got inspired to make a change.”

138 communities kept each other in the loop Organizer Priscilla Lotman is very satisfied with the result of TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat. Lotman and the rest of the team started with preparations only six weeks before the event, but managed to create a well-organized day. “When we initially signed up for TEDx, there were only 50 participating com-munities. It’s amazing that it ended up being 138 communities organizing this TEDx event.” On a special Facebook page, all 138 communities kept each other in the loop with preparations and ideas. On the event day, there was a live chat in case of trouble. “Luckily we didn’t have to use the live chat. Almost everything went according to plan. The sponsors, volunteers and live speakers did an amazing job.”

Although TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat was just one day, it sparked the momentum to get the movement started. On a special TEDxCity2.0 Hoogstraat LinkedIn page, people are sharing their ideas and continue brainstorming. If it is up to organizer Priscilla Lotman, the inspiration to elicit change will continue: “It is great people still talk about TEDx Hoogstraat. When I go to seminars, I see people writing down ideas in the notepad they received at the TEDx; I hear them talking about the event and discussing the ideas that were shared. We want to create awareness and recognition for concepts like civic power, pedes-trian spaces and decentralized the leadership. Maybe most peo-ple aren’t thinking about this on a daily basis, but I hope their mindset has changed. I think this is a good start.”

Depending on the date of the next TEDCity2.0, we may see another TEDx Hoogstraat on the island. Check out the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/tedxhoogstraat or LinkedIn for more information.


Curaçao showed itself from its best side: the auditorium of the Chamber of Commerce was beautifully arranged, Steven Damiana, Manager of Investment and Trade Promotion of the Curaçao Chamber of Commerce, was a perfect Master of

Ceremonies and the overall atmosphere during the many events of the four day visit was superb.

AwardsAt this event, awards were granted to three of the nominees: Mrs. Luiza Helena Trajano of Magazine Luisa, who has more than 730 shops in Brazil and more than 23,000 employees; Mrs. Chieko Aoki of Blue Tree Hotels, a hotel brand with over 4,600 rooms in 18 cities in Brazil; and the highest award to Mr. José Roberto Maluf, president of magazines such as America Economía, Rolling Stone, and Caras Brazil.

Besides the Brazilian and other Latin American personali-ties, five local personalities were honored by LAMPA and GCSM: Minister of Economic Development, Mr. Stanley Palm; President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Willem (Billy) Jonckheer; President of the Curaçao Tourism Department Foundation (CTDF), Mr. Tarzeno Cirkens; Director

From September 12th through 15th, 2013, a group of high level entrepreneurs and officials of various munic-ipalities from Brazil visited Curaçao to attend the Latin American Marketing Personality Awards of 2013 (LAMPA 2013). Curaçao was selected by the Global Council of Sales & Marketing (GCSM) to host the presentation that was expertly organized by the GCSM/LAMPA team and led by Mr. Agostinho Turbian.

Highly successful commercial meetings between Brazil and Curaçao

LAMPA 2013

EVENT

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TEXT SITA FINESSI- KIMATRAI AND THE CURAÇAO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY


of Curaçao Technology Exchange (CTEX), Mr. Anthony de Lima; Director of the Curaçao Tourism Board, Mr. Hugo Clarinda; and Mr. Steven Martina for his role as ex-Minister of Economic Development.

Brazil-Curaçao Chamber of CommerceSince many representatives from prominent Brazilian businesses would be in attendance, organizers took the opportunity to intro-duce the newly established Brazil-Curaçao Chamber of Commerce. Final legalities to launch this new consortium took place on September 13th, where letters of intent by our Minister of Economic Affairs, His Excellency Stanley Palm, and Brazilian entrepreneurs who are interested in doing business with Curaçao were signed. Afterwards, the del-egation of nominees and high-level entre-preneurs had the opportunity to mingle with local entrepreneurs with similar interests to stimulate continued business relationships between the two countries. During this event, Mr. Palm and His Excellency Jose Jardim, our Minister of Finance, gave a speech about the history, current status and follow-ups in the Brazilian market with regard to the financial sector of Curaçao. Mr. Jardim presented a clear picture of the many possibilities that our International Financial Services industry offers and was complimented by General de Moura Azevedo, advisor to various Brazilian companies, not only on having made the case for Brazilian industry to use Curaçao as a base for its worldwide expansion, but also on having done so in perfect Portuguese. The General himself gave an impressive speech

on the recent investments of the Brazilian government in the aeronautical sector of his country’s economy.

Remote storageAnother highlight was the CTEX presenta-tion on Saturday at the Sta. Barbara Resort Hotel by Anthony de Lima. From the many pertinent and interesting questions asked, it was clear that the Brazilians who attended the presentation were well informed on the advantages of the remote storage of sensi-tive information and were actively engaged in finding the right solution for their various businesses. The presentation ended with a tour of the data center, which is being built in Mahuma. Before the group left for the tour, Mr. de Lima’s magnanimous gift of two servers to Eduardo Setton, Secretary for Science and Innovation Technology of the Government of Alagoas, brought him a big round of applause.

These events have been realized through constant efforts of Curaçao in the Brazilian market in recent years. By expanding contacts and maintaining close cooperation with vari-ous stakeholders, we increase the chances for Curaçao to expand its business opportunities in the Brazilian market and beyond.

If you would like more information regarding the

Brazilian companies that attended this event and

do business in the sector in which you operate,

please contact the Curaçao Chamber of Com-

merce at [email protected].


In the world of financial services, starting in the late 1930’s, Curaçao pioneered the basic elements of offshore structures that can now be found throughout the world and led the move to globally structured asset protection vehicles. In this sense, Curaçao was a hub for the legal ideas that were germinated here. In the late ‘70’s and early ‘80’s, some of the most successful and popular hedge funds were set up on Curaçao. The resulting boom in offshore administration services locally turned Curaçao into a hub for those services, with a number of globally competitive organisations starting on the island. Not to mention that the industry itself, fund administration, was born on Curaçao and is now a huge part of the global financial network.

TodayThe fund administration business is no longer based on Curaçao; nowadays, most of the opera-tors have their main offices onshore. The decision to move back onshore was driven by a combina-tion of the relaxation of tax rules onshore and the stringent labour laws operating offshore (Curaçao is not the only offshore jurisdiction to see labour-intensive operations shift onshore in the past decade or so).Similarly, in the banking industry, the current regulatory environment is squeezing the profit-ability of the existing players. The rising cost, in every sense of the word, of compliance is making it more difficult for new entrants to innovate and find a niche where they can participate in the marketplace – leaving mostly the global behe-moths behind.Another factor these days is that global asset pro-tection structures established on Curaçao are just

one of dozens competing in a marketplace that is primarily driven by price. This results in an industry that is driven by volume and, wherever possible, technology. The common factor across these industries is the amassing of experience and knowledge and the creation of a talented and skilled workforce, coupled with the shrinking of an industry and a reduction in opportunity for those workers to exploit their own experience here on the island. The current situation, insofar as the financial service sector is concerned, is that we have a highly experienced but underutilized labour force.

The Challenge In a commoditized market such as offshore struc-tures, it’s hard to hold on to any unique struc-ture or feature for long – other jurisdictions can copy it overnight if they have the political will. Additionally, the global attitude to the offshore industry as a whole has shifted so quickly and comprehensively that financial incentives are no longer sufficient motivation or justification; not for those establishing the structures nor for those who we are asking to enter into double-taxation treaties and the like. Experience, knowledge and the ability to attract top-quality individuals and companies are a dif-ferent story altogether. Experience, by definition, only comes with time; knowledge comes with education. Top-quality individuals and compa-nies are already here; we need to ensure that they do not leave!

Key Characteristics of a Successful HubIn addition to having the experience and knowl-

A hub is ‘a center around which other things revolve or from which they radiate; a focus of activity, authority, commerce, transportation, etc.’ Historically, Curaçao is already familiar with what it means to operate as a hub. It has had great success as a transportation hub, oper-ating, at one point in time, the 5th busiest port in the world – the last-stop on the way to the Panama Canal, the first stop on the way out.

Growing the Hub in Curaçao

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TEXT GORDON CASEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT FRONT SHORE


edge to service the particular industries on which we are focusing, we also need to have the willingness. Curaçao has, in my opinion, come a long way in the past two years or so in this regard; there is an increasing number of stakeholders that have recognized the need for us all to both look and step outwards. This is leading to small, but dynamic, collabora-tive efforts across the island and a whirlwind of new energy is surging. The industries of focus need to have platforms established that encourage the free flow of information between competitors and other players — ide-ally encouraging an increase in collaboration between service providers — which is fre-quently the hallmark of a successful hub.To a large extent, being willing and able can ensure that a substantial increase in opportu-nities will flow to Curaçao, but if we can add ‘ready’ to that list, we will take off. In this context, in order for a hub to succeed there needs to be certain infrastructures in place, both physically and in terms of process. We need government, tax and regulatory organi-zations that are stable and reliable, but also

flexible enough to be able to adapt to market conditions rapidly.Lastly, we need to embrace innovation. The term is in danger of being dismissed as little more than a buzzword, but in this sense, I actually mean it quite literally; both the cul-ture of the island and the organs of state and commerce need to facilitate innovation and entrepreneurship – this means tax and labour incentives for start-ups, fast-track loan mecha-nisms from banks, flexible rental schemes at business parks (such as shared space) and a myriad of other tools to ensure that good busi-ness ideas are supported by government and industry.

SaaS – Smile as a ServiceIn our experience, the world could care less about the unique elements or features of your service, your bank, your structure or even your expertise; what they want is fantastic service. They want you to put them first and consider their needs and requirements ahead of everything else. Approaching clients with the attitude that you are not there to sell them

any one thing, but rather to facilitate the proc-ess of putting them together with the right products, services and people, you soon learn that oftentimes the right thing (for the client) is simply the most pleasant thing. The most technologically advanced prod-uct may be the right one, but if you can’t get anybody to tell you how to turn it on, or to troubleshoot the purchasing process, then it might as well not exist. The same goes for financial services and the other industries in which Curaçao could act as a service hub. Our products may be as good as anything else that is out there but our approach could be truly unique – willingness to work with any other party in order to deliver what the client truly needs, coupled with our experience and the ability to deliver excellent service. That approach, delivered by all of the relevant play-ers on Curaçao, would make a huge differ-ence and could lead to such success that, at a certain point, the most efficient and pleasant way to set up any structure globally could be to start with one of the service providers on Curaçao.


Setting up a hedge fundjust got easy.

You can focus on raising capital and fine-tuning your strategy while we take care of the structure and ensure you hit the ground running, on time, on budget, no surprises.

T +599 9 7331212 [email protected] THE TRIANGLE, HOOGSTRAAT 18, CURACAOWWW.FRONTSHORE.COM

Industries with potentialGiven some of our natural resources, we have the potential to be a source of inspiration and to be a thought leader in the world, taking steps now to create and usher in the realities of tomorrow. The airport is aiming to be a service hub for the region by establishing itself as an Airport City. Part of the tools to accom-plish this, and also to encourage investment and participation, will be through the use of Sea-Water Air Conditioning, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, Waste to Energy systems, Aquaculture and other innovations that would mark us as one of the most developed, sustain-able nations on the planet and certainly in the region. Renewable energy, food systems, ocean protection and human rights: in each of these areas Curaçao has either a vast natural resource, a considerable position as stake-holder or has played a key historical role. As a result, we could legitimately lead the way

forward on establishing the best practices, at a national regulatory and legislative level, in each of these areas. Our legal system is robust and our lawyers are very skilled. Why not become known as the island that passed the legislation of the 22nd Century – protecting our human rights, our oceans, our climate and our food stocks and systems?

The Curaçao Hub Located smack in the middle of the two American continents, Curaçao is physically positioned appropriately to start self-iden-tifying as a hub for a wide range of ideas and services. We will never be a substantial manufacturing hub, nor will we be exporting corn-based fuels. However, we can export our knowledge and expertise, our experience and excellence, and in doing so, initiate a virtuous cycle whereby we attract the people and ideas to ensure we are in an even better position for

the industries and business ideas of tomorrow. At Front Shore we are agnostic when it comes to the jurisdiction in which we establish a fund, or an asset protection structure, for our clients. We try to match our client’s needs with the right product and service; most of the time that means that we work with service providers in jurisdictions other than Curaçao in order to setup the structure. We believe that Curaçao’s financial services sector could embody this approach across all sectors, exporting its expertise to clients based throughout the world irrespective of their location and the location of the other service providers.

For more information about Front Shore, you can go to

their website at www.frontshore.com or on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/frontshorenv.

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BUSINESS


Curaçao is no exception to this principle and we need to expand our own potential to realize a sustainable future for our island as a central hub for intelligence, digital services, trade and innovation in our region. It’s this strategic opportunity that inspires Curaçao Airport Holding to take a leading role in future thinking.

CURAÇAO AIRPORT HOLDING: INNOVATOR ON A MISSIONCuraçao Airport Holding (CAH) is a gov-ernment-owned, limited liability com-pany that owns the Curaçao International Airport and surrounding terrains. CAH

has leased out the operations of the air-port to Curaçao Airport Partners (CAP), a subsidiary of the experienced interna-tional airport operator A-Port. “The air-port is in good hands and this gives CAH ample opportunity to focus on its mission to increase air traffic, as well as acquire, develop, support and manage value-add-ing business activities and sustainable economic growth for Curaçao in a new airport city,” according to CAH Director, Maurice Adriaens. In order to succeed in its mission, Curaçao Airport Holding recognizes that it has various roles and responsibilities, not only towards its

“The future is now!” This mantra is both inspirational and provocative. What will YOU do TODAY to innovate the way we work and live? Knowledge has long been recognized as the prime condition for innovation, economic development and growth. Research has shown that a coun-try’s prosperity is proportional to its devel-opment as a knowledge economy.

Curaçao Airport HoldingInnovator leading the way to a sustainable future for Curaçao

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TEXT JAIRO LOBO AND GONNEKE VAN DEN KIEBOOM


stakeholders, but also to Curaçao as a whole:• As airport supervisor, CAH’s primary respon-

sibility is guaranteeing a well-functioning qual-ity airport, through monitoring of operations and reporting on performance. CAH also seeks to continuously improve the airport’s function-ing through new investments.

• As air traffic developer, CAH proactively supports and assists in efforts to increase the volume and quality of air traffic to, from and through Curaçao.

• As innovator and area developer, CAH initiates development of the terrains surrounding the airport for economic activity, creating a high tech, 100% self-sufficient, green and sustaina-ble airport city.

Between all these ambitions, CAH recognizes its position as a government agency and assumes responsibility for excellence towards Curaçao and its people. CAH envisions the Curaçao International Airport to be a highly efficient airport servicing origin and destination traffic, connecting South America and the Caribbean to North America and Europe. The airport will be at the center of a dynamic airport city with both aviation and non-aviation businesses focusing on green, sustainable, innovative and knowledge-intensive industries, creating a powerful engine for the economic development of Curaçao. It will be the first 100% self-sufficient, green energy-based airport in the region, featuring such innovations

as SaltWater Air Conditioning, Waste-to-Energy and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion to gen-erate electricity.

A STATE-OF-THE-ART COMPETITIVE AIRPORTIn its role as supervisor, CAH supervises the continuous daily operation of the international airport in compliance with the Development, Operation and Maintenance Agreement (DOMA) it signed with Curaçao Airport Partners (CAP) and in accordance with other applicable regulatory requirements. In addition, CAH ensures that a continuous improvement process is followed to keep the Curaçao airport competitive in its service and infrastructure provisions as the competitive environment and quality requirements change over time. The DOMA contains provisions to operate the ser-vices and facilities of the airport at a high qual-ity standard. CAH’s key role in this is to verify compliance, which it does by carrying out regu-lar inspections with frequent reporting and con-sultations with CAP. As the ultimate owner of the facilities, CAH wants to ensure that as time goes by, new systems are introduced and the facilities remain up to date. Quality standards in the DOMA are therefore regularly reviewed and clarified or changed when this happens.

CAH occasionally also invests in improvement of the airport through investments of its own. Commercial Developer Simon Kloppenburg explains why: “Long-term initiatives affect all stakeholders of the airport and may lead to requirements that services are improved upon or better coordinated to ensure a seamless total package to the customers and ultimately to the overall economic benefit for Curaçao. Long-term plans are therefore always discussed with all airport stakeholders and, as the supervisor, we play a central role in organizing and managing these discussions.”

HIGHER VOLUME AND BETTER QUALITY OF AIR TRAFFICIdentifying and creating opportunities to stim-ulate new air traffic to operate through Curaçao is a task that cannot be left solely to CAP as the operator of the airport. The volume and types of air traffic through Curaçao’s international air-port have a direct effect on the expansion of the island’s hub function in the Pan-American region. The proposed airport city depends on it, but also feeds it. At the same time, the quality operation of the airport itself is also a determining factor in the attractiveness of Curaçao as a choice for ser-vices such as cargo transshipment, technical stops and transit of passengers to other destinations. “In this sense we can speak of a strong recipro-


cal development, which is why CAH’s role in all three of the aforementioned areas of development is equally as important”, says Director Adriaens. “The stimulation of additional air traffic of mul-tiple types is key. The current majority of traffic in Curaçao is origin and destination traffic, con-sisting of locals, visiting business people, tourists and cargo destined to the island itself. The airport has a great potential to influence more discretion-ary traffic, such as technical stops and transship-ment of cargo and passengers in transit to other destinations.” Looking to attain a central hub position between South America, the Caribbean, North America and Europe, Curaçao Airport Holding aims to achieve a competitive position and attract new business, through continued excellence in the total package of services: rea-sonable fuel prices, a fast turnaround, good cargo and passenger facilities and efficient immigration and customs processing.

In a more entrepreneurial sense, CAH also believes more traffic can be attracted by pro-actively building new facilities. For instance, in order to stimulate cargo transshipment, CAH seeks cooperating investors to prebuild warehouses for potential operators. To limit the risk factor, this needs to happen in lockstep with pre-identified operators when a compelling business case presents itself. Besides proactive expansion of facilities, CAH also contributes to airline incentive schemes to open up new strate-gically attractive air routes for passenger traffic, if they contribute to the vision of Curaçao’s hub function and the proposed airport city. In addition, CAH is looking to further expand the General Aviation niche in conjunction with CAP, by extending leases to new Fixed-base Operators (FBOs) for services such as ground handling, cargo, hospitality, fueling, hangars, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft mainte-nance, flight instruction, etc.

ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH AREA DEVELOPMENTThe final pillar of CAH’s mission is achieving significant new investments in diverse eco-nomic activities for the new Curaçao Airport City. When talking about this subject, Adriaens sounds most determined. He says: “Dreams consist of thoughts and visions; innovation exists in the perseverance to turn these thoughts into actions. Curaçao Airport Holding has full control of over 450 hectares (1100 acres) of land around the airport, of which around 200 hectares (494 acres) are suitable for immediate development. In this designated area, CAH aims to develop a 100% green, self-sustaining, inno-vative and high tech airport city. This develop-

ment will provide a major boost to Curaçao’s overall economic growth and will put Curaçao on the map as the #1 business hub in the Pan-American Region.” Curaçao Airport City will offer over 1 million square meters of rentable space to support high-tech, time sensitive and freight forwarding companies. A free trade zone and exhibition centers will facilitate trade and business between the continents. More importantly, it will bring new and sustainable forms of economic activity to the island, by increasing employment and educational pos-sibilities and the general quality of life of our community as a whole. Simon Kloppenburg is excited about the plans: “CAH’s visionary plan for Curaçao Airport City is so much more than just another airport. We are talking about new hotels, offices, warehouses, universities, housing, sporting & entertainment facilities and ecological industries.” CAH takes the lead as the driving force and coordinating authority to get the first projects going and motivate private investors to participate. New businesses prefer to operate in innovative, environmentally-con-scious green industries. This ensures the quality and the strict positioning of the airport city and

subsequently CAH’s long-term value. One of CAH’s first partners in this effort is a Spaceport for commercial space travel, operated by the Space Expedition Corporation.

But Space Travel is definitely not the only good thing to come to Curaçao in the near future. CAH also actively invests in the necessary infrastructure, as well as the energy and cost saving technology of SeaWater Air Conditioning in order to facilitate further development. CAH also provides incentives to stimulate strate-gic developers, in the form of seed capital and co-investments in strategic projects. CAH promotes the economic opportunities in the airport city, positioning Curaçao as the “Safe and Sustainable Gateway to and from Latin America,” specifically identifying and targeting high-potential prospects and providing them with the necessary information for their decision making. CAH acts as intermediary to obtain government permits, licenses, and other deci-sions; as advisor, coordinator or matchmaker between parties; and as general source of knowl-edge. Finally, in order to safeguard the character of the airport city concept, CAH has developed a

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number of criteria that act as a guideline for the continued development of the area and warranty of quality to potential investors.

INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITYCuraçao Airport Holding strongly believes that economic growth is only warranted, and even only feasible, if it is done in a responsible, environmentally friendly and sustainable man-ner. Therefore, CAH aims to not just attract business to the new Curaçao Airport City, but to specifically target investments in progressive industries, such as Eco-, Agri- and Aquaculture plants. “As a stimulus and a precondition for the 100% green and self-sufficient character of the airport city, CAH will also initiate building and operating sustainable and green innovations, such as a SeaWater Air Conditioning network, a waste-to-energy system and Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion for the generation of elec-tricity”, director Adriaens adds.

SeaWater Air Conditioning: an impera-tive preconditionAn indispensable condition for the success-ful development of Curaçao Airport City

is to supply all tenants with affordable and sustainable energy and cooling. The SeaWater Air Conditioning (SWAC) system is one of the most important investments in this respect and a huge benefit to potential investors and operators because of its vast cost-cutting poten-tial. The system is already being successfully employed in numerous coastal areas around the world (e.g. the US, Canada and Bora Bora) and has abundantly proven its value. It pumps cold seawater from a depth of 600m to the surface, where it acts as a coolant in a heat exchanger. This central air-conditioning system uses only a tenth of the energy of conventional air conditioners and it doesn’t use harmful refrigerants, making it more environmentally friendly. The proposed SWAC facility is an exemplary illustration of how CAH stimulates development by providing a business-friendly airport city through innovative, green invest-ments. Commercial Developer Kloppenburg emphasizes, “SWAC cuts the energy needed for cooling by nearly 90%. Besides realizing considerable cost savings, it also makes the airport city and Curaçao as a whole much less dependent on the fluctuating prices of fossil

fuels. Consequently this will improve our global economic position.”

GRABBING THE BULL BY THE HORNS: THE FUTURE IS NOW!We can safely say that the Curaçao airport and its surroundings benefit from several exist-ing strengths and opportunities, affording us plenty of options for extensive development of the airport as a regional hub and the acceler-ated development of surrounding terrains for new economic activities. Adriaens concludes: “One of our main goals is to ensure that any new development yields a considerable positive spinoff for the island’s economy. Green and sus-tainable investments will function as a magnet for research and development and educational industries, leading to impressive long-term educational opportunities, economic growth and job creation.” Together with conservation of the surrounding environment through sustainable infrastructure plans, Curaçao Airport City prom-ises to have a positive socio-economic impact on the island, with the highest level of green and sustainable consciousness. The only question that remains is: “what are we waiting for?”


FINANCE


In this article we will discuss the key advantages and disadvantages to the aforementioned ways of operating a business, plus share insights on possibilities to improve your current business structure.

Sole ProprietorshipA sole proprietorship is a type of business that is owned and run by one individual and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business. Therefore, you have unlimited personal liability for all of the debts and legal liabilities of your business. Your personal assets, such as your home and personal bank account, could be at risk to satisfy unpaid debts, tax liabilities and other legal obligations of your sole proprietorship.As a sole proprietor, all the business profits will be allocated to you directly and will be subject to income tax. In Curaçao we have a pro-gressive income tax rate of 12% to 49% (2013). The highest income tax rate of 49% is applicable to all income over ANG 125,200.

Private Company with Limited Liability (B.V.)You can also operate your business through a separate legal entity: the B.V. A lot of businesses are still operating under a naamloze ven-nootschap (N.V.), but to simplify things, the B.V. will be discussed here. Operating as a B.V., you would own shares in the company, so you and your business will no longer be viewed as one and the same. In order to legally represent and sign on behalf of your B.V., you will be its manag-ing director and thus an employee of the B.V. It is not legally required for you to receive a minimum salary from your B.V. if you are also the managing director.

As a shareholder of the B.V., your contributed capital is at risk, rather than your other personal assets. Your financial capital contribution to your B.V. can be as low as ANG 1. However, as the managing director of your B.V., you may still be held personally liable for the debts and obligations of the B.V., in the case of misconduct and mismanagement.

In Curaçao, the taxable base of the B.V. is determined based on the total income minus all business expenses and charges necessary for the real-ization of the profit. In your B.V. you can also administer your future pension, whereby the pension provision reduces your taxable base for profit tax purposes.

In principle, the taxable profit realized by your B.V. is subject to profit tax at the current standard rate of 27.5% (2013). Retained earnings of your B.V. can be distributed to you as a dividend. This dividend income will be subject to income tax at a flat rate of 19.5% and should be reported in your individual income tax return. Therefore, profits realized by the B.V. and distributed to the shareholder are, in principle, subject to a combined and total effective tax rate of 41.6%.

Sole Proprietorship versus B.V.The choice between a sole proprietorship and a B.V. is largely deter-mined by the manner in which you can be held personally liable for the debts and liabilities of your business and the applicable tax bur-den. The B.V. might be the best option if you are entering a business endeavour with risks that will not be covered by personal liability insurances. In that case, the B.V. will help you protect your personal assets such as your house and personal bank accounts in the unfortu-nate situation of bankruptcy or legal claims.

From a tax perspective, the B.V. becomes more attractive when the expected business profits increase as the business grows; the rule of thumb is when the taxable profit of your business exceeds ANG 125,000 per year. If you are expecting low business profits, or even losses in the start-up phase, you might prefer sole proprietorship; however, you will still have to accept the risk of personal liability. The choice between which type of business to choose for your company all comes down to your personal situation and the personal taxable deductions you have in income tax, such as the interest on your mort-gage. Therefore, it is best to carefully evaluate the advantages and dis-advantages of sole proprietorship versus a B.V. in order to determine which is best given your personal situation. If you have a sole proprie-torship at the moment and realize that the B.V. will be more appropri-ate for you, the Curaçao tax laws provide you with the possibility to transfer your sole proprietorship into a B.V. without triggering income tax if certain conditions are met.

The Holding StructureThere is a saying that when it comes to a B.V., one equals none. This implies that you are better off having two B.V.s, instead of just one. Therefore, whether you are already operating a business through a B.V. or are planning to do so in the future, it is important to also consider the incorporation of a second B.V. as a holding company (or ‘holding’).

At first glance, the term ‘holding’ has a complicated ring to it. It sounds like something that only multinationals with companies all over the world would need. However, this is a common misconception. Even for the small business owner, it is important to realize that the use of a holding structure is an asset protection planning strategy that helps to further limit liability in your business structure. It also offers several tax advantages.

Sole Proprietorship versus Besloten Vennootschap (B.V.)

41

As a starting entrepreneur, you may face the issue of whether to start out as a sole proprietorship or a private limited liability company, a besloten vennootschap (B.V.). Even if you are already oper-ating a business, it is still wise to evaluate whether your current form of business is the right one and whether it is properly structured.


In Curaçao, entrepreneurs often carry out all their business activ-ities through one B.V. (or N.V.). Even though they are, in principle, not personally liable for debts and liabilities of the B.V., in the worst-case scenario they can still lose all the property attributable to the B.V. itself. As a shareholder and business owner, you could still end up losing your company car, business properties, retained earnings and accrued pension entitlements in your B.V. This could be avoided by implementing a holding structure.

In a holding structure you will have two B.V.s instead of one. One B.V. will be used for the day-to-day business activities, which bears all the business risks. This B.V. will be the operating entity that engages in all the contracts with the clients, employs all the personnel and owns the business assets and inventory. To the outside world, this B.V. will be considered the business operating company.

The shares of the operating company will be held by a second B.V., the holding. As sole shareholder of the holding, you can use this B.V. to accrue your pension entitlements and to own valuable assets, such as real estate, developed trademarks and retained earnings. That way, if the operating entity goes bankrupt, these valuable assets are safe in the holding, as the holding cannot be held responsible for the debt of the operating company.

Besides asset protection, the holding structure also offers several tax advantages. For example, you can accumulate your retained earnings ‘tax efficiently’ in the holding, while you decide whether to reinvest or to distribute these funds. More specifically, you can distribute the retained earnings of your operating company to the holding without paying any additional profit tax by applying the participation exemption. This way you will avoid making dividend distributions to you personally and will, therefore, delay the pay-ment of the aforementioned 19.5% income tax. Applying the par-ticipation exemption also makes the holding structure perfect for ensuring a tax efficient transfer of the operating company to your children and grandchildren when you want to take a step back and let the next generation take over the business.

If at one point the holding sells the shares in the operating com-pany, possible capital gains realized with this sale of shares may be exempt from profit tax in the holding company. This is another tax advantage, which enables you to use these proceeds to reinvest in a newly, to-be-incorporated, operating company, without hav-ing to pay any profit tax on the capital gains. Without the holding structure, capital gains on the sale of shares would immediately be subject to income tax at the rate of 19.5%.

If you are already operating your business through a B.V., but without a holding company, it is not too late to set up a hold-ing structure. Provided that certain conditions are met, you can transfer your shares in the operating B.V. to a newly incorporated holding company, without triggering income tax.

Regardless if you are planning to start a new business, or are already operating one, you can take the aforementioned informa-tion into consideration when deciding your next step. As illus-trated in this article, how you operate your business and design your business structure can have a significant impact on your financial situation in both the short and long term. In the short term, you can possibly limit your yearly tax expenses by choosing the right form of business. In the long term, by making sure you have the right business structure in place, you can benefit from certain tax regulations, for example when you sell your business. Please take into consideration that each situation has unique char-acteristics and circumstances that require specific tax advice for an optimal result.

This article was written by PwC partner, Zuleika Lasten, and assistant manager,

Terrence Melendez, at PwC Dutch Caribbean. PwC Dutch Caribbean helps

organizations and individuals create the value they desire. For 75 years, our 170

partners and staff are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax, advisory

and accounting services out of our offices in Curaçao, Aruba, St. Maarten and

Bonaire. PwC Dutch Caribbean is a member of the PwC network of firms, with

offices in 157 countries and more than 184,000 employees. Tell us what matters

to you and find out more by visiting us at www.pwc.com/dutch-caribbean.

42

FINANCE


Terrence Melendez

Milagros Rodriguez

466 1240

Angelo Ludowika

466 1147

Cherethy Kirindongo

466 1217

ShirleyFerreira

466 1188

Hubert Bentura

466 1195 SuyinMourillon

466 1162

MCB SMALL BUSINESS UNIT Empresa Chikí. For more information contact us or visit: www.mcb-bank.com/empresachiki

1456_MCB_EmpresaChiki_NieuweMensen_92x260_ENG.indd 1 6/25/13 15:07

Factoring provides a viable alternative for com-panies that do not qualify for bank financing, and may also help both young and growing companies, as well as successful companies, that can’t afford waiting 30, 60, 90 or even more days for customers to pay their invoices. Factoring immediately improves the cash flow of a business.

HistoryFactoring has existed for many years in inter-national markets. It has evolved and become a prominent financial tool for doing business in almost every industry. Since the early 1960s, it has been developing globally and has grown consistently in the USA and Europe. By the 1980s, factoring was increasingly used and was better understood as a viable form of funding working capital. Today, factoring is an accept-able and widely used funding product, offered by large banks and independent factoring com-panies around the world. Over the years, there has been a considerable boost in the Caribbean region to develop and promote factoring as a cash flow solution.

BenefitsThere are many benefits of factoring and it has been proven to allow companies to grow. Businesses primarily use factoring for the fol-lowing benefits:• improve cash flow• increase production and sales• meet payroll obligations• finance expansion without debt• improve balance sheet ratios• minimize write-offs• take advantage of supplier discounts through

early payment• fund marketing, acquire larger clients• arrange for credit risk protection

There are other advantages to using factoring. It reduces the overhead cost of collections and provides a business with online access to up-to-date aging and collection reports of all factored invoices. The collection from the debtors is professional, in order to ensure prompt, accurate invoice payment. Factors are not a bank or a col-lection agency and they will not harass respect-able customers for money in an inappropriate manner. However, if there is a serious problem collecting an invoice, the factor will ultimately exercise its right of collection in a businesslike manner.

Non-recourse factoringSome factors offer non-recourse factoring. Non-recourse factoring implies that the factoring company assumes the risk of non-payment by the debtors. This means that if the debtor cannot meet its payment obligation, the factor will not ask or charge back the advance paid for the invoice. Non-recourse factoring will protect your company from writing off outstanding invoices. Another advantage, especially in the Caribbean, is that factors often already have extensive experience in dealing with overseas suppliers for companies that want to expand overseas. Therefore, using factors will make international business efforts much easier.Today, factoring companies offer other support services to their clients. These services include sending monthly statements to customers for payment, performing collection calls, processing and maintaining history on invoices and cus-tomer payments and providing reports, typically with online access for the client.

WhoFactoring is used in almost every industry that sells business-to-business or business-to-gov-

ernment products or services on terms of credit. Typical prospective factoring clients have one or more of the following characteristics: • start up• rapid growth• slow customer payments• desire to outsource debtor management• operating in a dynamic market• low capital base• restructuring• expanding abroad or entering other markets

Cost In general the cost of factoring is only a small percentage of the invoice value. The cost of fac-toring depends on the volume of invoices to be factored, the number and variety of customers, stability and credit-worthiness of customers and the average days invoices remain outstanding. Qualifying for factoring is based primarily on your customer’s credit and not your company’s financial position.Factoring can give you the peace of mind, the time and the money to focus on what you do best-grow your company.

FactorPlus, which was established on Curaçao in 2006, has

been helping large, medium-sized and small companies to

manage and control their businesses with non-recourse

factoring. The company is an active member of the Interna-

tional Factors Group (IFG), an important knowledge center

for international factoring developments. FactorPlus has

offices on Curaçao, Aruba and St. Maarten. Through the

IFG network, FactorPlus can service clients on other Carib-

bean islands, in the USA and the Netherlands. FactorPlus

also offers import and export factoring.

For more information contact: Zeudi Glaudemans-Sprock

FactorPlus (Caribbean Factoring

Services) T +5999 737 0660

[email protected] | www.factorplus.com

Factoring, also called accounts receivable funding, is the purchasing of invoices from a business at a discount in exchange for immediate cash; cash that would normally remain tied up in accounts receivable. Besides pro-viding additional cash flow, a factoring company (factor) also provides collection services and debtor manage-ment. The factoring process is continuous, providing you with steady cash flow that grows with your business.

A viable alternative for a healthy cash flow

Factoring

FINANCE


SBAB’s mission is to implement tax laws and regulations in an efficient, effective and customer-oriented manner. The focus is to improve tax compliance in Curaçao, hence increas-ing the island’s tax revenues.

The tax revenue of a country depends on the following factors:- The economy and gross national product of the country.- The tax system; complicated tax systems generate aversion. - The tax rates themselves.- The extent to which the country is able to expertly train

staff and/or recruit local and international labor.- The attitude of the employees of the tax department,

which is partly dependent on the job satisfaction of those employees.

The Government Accountant’s Foundation (SBAB) broadens its services with the introduc-tion of the project, Guia den i Atministrashon Impuesto Temporal (GUAIT), or Guide in Tax Administration in English. This project aims to assist entrepreneurs in maintaining a sound fi-nancial administration in their businesses. This project is also intended for entrepreneurs who are in a challenged financial position. They can be helped by SBAB with their administration and fiscal affairs.

A Project by the Government Accountant’s Foundation

Guide in Tax Administration

FINANCE


- The acceptance by the population of the tax system and tax rates.

- The mentality and/or tax ethics of the popula-tion.

- The perception of the population that the government spends its tax revenues appropri-ately.

- The geographical conditions – the tax sys-tems and rates of islands within the region.

In order to positively influence companies to improve tax compliance, SBAB started a project in the fourth quarter of 2010, “Starting Entrepreneurs, “ or the “Starter Project.” This project allowed SBAB to assist and support entrepreneurs with little or no experience in setting their taxes. The support provided by this project included: setting up and managing the financial administration of each company, completing any obligations with regard to tax-ation and the like, and answering all kinds of questions on entrepreneurship.The execution and subsequent work on the Starter Project showed that even with existing companies there was a great need for assistance in the area of financial and tax matters. Those in the field found that many entrepreneurs were

unable to approach an administrator, accountant or consultant to help with a backlog of unpaid commitments or high taxes. For this reason, SBAB decided to expand the Starter Project and implemented GUAIT. Now, besides giving guidance to new entrepreneurs, this project also assists those whose company is in a bad finan-cial situation, administration is poor due to the challenged financial situation and the admin-istrator, accountant, tax advisor or entrepre-neur can’t be paid due the challenged financial situation.

With GUAIT, SBAB has the following objectives:- Provide positive reinforcement to obtain the

desired level of tax compliance.- Provide assistance to new entrepreneurs and

existing business owners who are unable to pay an administrator, accountant or tax advisor.

- Reduce the number of companies that go out of business because of financial problems.

- Broaden the scope for administrator, account-ant or tax advisor. Reducing the number of failed entrepreneurs increases the number of potential customers for these professionals.

- Improve the relationship between SBAB, en-trepreneurs and administrative services.

The main advantage of the GUAIT project is that fewer companies will go bankrupt because of the debt incurred on taxes and social contri-butions. This in turn has more activity, more jobs and more tax revenue as a result. This results in a win-win situation.Eligibility for the GUAIT project is determined by an intake interview and an investigation into the company’s tax situation. Using the information gathered, the SBAB determines if the business is able to hire an administrator, accountant and tax adviser. Companies that qualify for GUAIT are those that are willing to manage their own financial bookkeeping and are not able to afford an administrator, account-ant or tax adviser. A company that qualifies for GUAIT will get one year of assistance in financial administration, plus support to enter in to a settlement agreement to rectify any tax discrepancies.If a company is eligible and decides to partici-pate in GUAIT, the business owner must agree to the following conditions:

If no due diligence has been announced by the SBAB Immediately upon signing the GUAIT agree-ment, the company should enter into a contract with an accountant, auditor or tax advisor to help with tax administration.After one year, the business owner is required to deal with an administrator, accountant or tax advisor to execute, provide and submit tax returns. After the one year period, if the company chooses to handle its tax administration itself, the SBAB will continue to monitor whether the business is complying with its tax obligations.Entrepreneurs take risks by investing their assets in a company. That company will, in turn, contribute to the economy by creating jobs and paying taxes. On this basis, SBAB also finds it extremely important that employees of the SBAB better understand the entrepreneurs and the areas where they run in to the most challenges. This project provides that oppor-tunity. If an entrepreneur would like to be part of this project, he/she can contact the following people:

Mr. Oswin Lint / Mevr. Vanessa Medema

Phone: 734-2714/ 734-2444/ 734-2423

E-mail: [email protected]

Ms. Shanela Cathalina

Phone: 734-2444 of 734-2414

E-mail: [email protected]


1. Our employees are your biggest as-

set, but also your biggest risk.

Websense, a web and email filtering company, indicates that 80% of all security breach incidents occur from within an organization. This conjures up an image of the bitter employee sitting in a back room creating a sinister plot or virus to bring the company’s operations to a grinding halt. While this certainly does happen, most often it is the

seemingly innocent daily actions of employees that may put a company at risk. Consider the email with an attachment that is opened, launch-ing a company-wide virus within minutes. Or perhaps employees who are web surfing on sites that are not reputable. Maybe your sales manager brings a proposal home for the weekend on a CD or floppy disk, works on it using a home computer that has a virus, and brings it back to

Information security is a number one priority for all companies; how-ever, the process of keeping finan-cial, employee and other data safe is not without its challenges. There are three things every business should know to reduce its chances of becom-ing another network security statistic.

Information Security - Is Your Network Safe?

48

ICT

TEXT STEVEN THIJS AND JACK PAUL


the office on Monday to add finishing touches. What about that sticky note with a user name and password on an employee’s computer screen?

It is necessary to create a company culture of vigilance. The first step is awareness. Educate employees about the risks. Instruct them not to open emails and/or attachments from unknown sources. Reduce non-business web surfing by implementing ‘acceptable use’ poli-cies and reinforce them.

2. There is no foolproof method to ensure total

security without unplugging your connection to

the internet.

Given the frequency with which new viruses are introduced, it seems impossible to keep up 100%. Here are some recent statistics from Websense that show the severity of web threats:

• 85.6 percent of all unwanted emails in cir-culation contained links to spam sites and/or malicious web sites• 77 percent of web sites with malicious code are compromised, legitimate sites• 95 percent of the of user-generated comments to blogs, chat rooms, and message boards are spam or maliciousSo what can you do? The important thing is to have a plan in place for dealing with them. See CorporateMail Security* for a solution to blocking 99.7% of email-borne threats.

3. Back to the basics: what every small business

should have for a more secure network.

• Passwords that change on a regular basis and are not intuitive.The National Cyber Security Alliance recom-mends using hard-to-guess passwords that are at least eight characters long and mix upper and lower case letters with numbers. Don’t share your password with anyone and change it at least every 90 days.• Up-to-date anti-virus software on all work-stations and servers.Since new viruses are created every day, it is essential to have anti-virus software that can be updated regularly to protect against the lat-est threats, preferably automatically updated to every workstation from your server.• Firewall with strong traffic policies to pro-hibit and allow communication.Firewalls provide protection between your computer and the world. They filter and block potentially dangerous and unauthorized data from the internet and also let ‘good’ data reach your computer. There are two types of firewalls: software and hardware. Software firewalls run on individual computers while hardware firewalls protect several computers at once. The size and needs of your company determines whether you choose one or both.• Email anti-virus and spam filters.Using filters to intercept email viruses and spam is an important way to protect your network. There are two types of email viruses: those that are enabled when opening an email attachment (i.e. the LoveLetter virus in 2000) and those that run automatically regardless of an attachment (such as the Nimda virus). An email anti-virus filter will catch incoming messages that contain viruses and stop them in their tracks. Typically you will receive an email notification to let you know that a virus was detected and quarantined.

Spam is one of the biggest wastes of space and time ever invented. It’s not enough that

we receive junk mail in our physical mail-boxes, now our email inboxes are flooded, too. Spam is inundating the internet with many copies of the same message in an attempt to force the message on people who would otherwise not choose to receive it. A spam filter separates unsolicited emails from those that are legitimate, placing the unsolicited messages in a separate folder. There is always the risk that the filter may block messages that are legitimate, so it is essential to review the messages in the spam folder from time to time. Most spam filters permit you to specify which emails you want to receive in your inbox based on a list of email addresses that you specify, often called a ‘white list’. For more informa-tion about anti-spam and email antivirus, see the CorporateMail Security* webpage.• Anti-Spyware TechnologySpyware, as defined by CRMtech.com, is “any technology that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the internet (where it is some-times called a spybot or tracking software), spyware is programming that is put in some-one’s computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties. Spyware can get in a computer as a software virus or as the result of installing a new program.” It basically gives advertisers information about your web surf-ing habits so they can target you for particular products. Anti-spyware is software or technol-ogy that disables spyware so you can regain your privacy.While no one can guarantee complete protec-tion from network security breaches, it is criti-cal to be proactive and have contingency plans in place. One of the more popular approaches to putting the right network security func-tions in place is outsourcing this function to professionals. According to Jennifer Mears in an article that appeared in Network World, “the outsourced IT professionals help you save time, give you access to reports and audits, as well as expertise that may not be available in-house. Bringing in the experts may be just what you need to get a jumpstart on the secu-rity of your network.”

V2 services is a Curaçao based IT consulting company.

The company is focused on offering a variety of IT con-

sulting services to small and medium size businesses.

*www.corpcomputerservices.com/services/mailsecurity


Caribbean Leaders Meet in BrusselsThe Prime Ministers of several islands in the Caribbean met with Leaders of the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories Council (COCTC) in Brus-sels in December 2013. Some points that were addressed during the mee-ting include the new European Union Overseas Association decision, which went into effect January 1st, 2014, the Territorial Strategies for Innovation Project, a status update on the Small and Medium Enterprise Regional Pro-gram under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) and regional pro-jects under the 11th EDF. The new executive body for 2013-2014 was elec-ted, which includes Chief Minister of Montserrat, Reuben Meade serving as Chairman and Prime Minister of Curaçao, Ivar Asjes, serving as Vice Chair.

No Double Taxes Between the Netherlands and CuraçaoThe Netherlands and Curaçao have reached an agreement about a new tax regulation to prevent companies and private persons from paying taxes in both countries, preventing citizens from being “double taxed.” The Dutch State Secretary, Frans Weekers, and José Jardim, Curaçao Minister of Finance, have signed an agreement to that effect. They also made arrangements for the automatic exchange of information by the tax authorities of both countries, which should prevent tax evasion. For the Netherlands, the new division of duty rights on pension benefits is significant. Based on this, the Netherlands can levy a withholding tax on physical properties that are moved with an individual upon emigration to Curaçao. “The Ne-therlands can levy taxes on gifts and inheritances for five years after emigration from the Nether-lands to Curaçao,” says Weekers. The arrange-ment will be effective January 2015 and will re-place the existing tax regulations from 1964. The Netherlands is also preparing a new tax regulation for Aruba and St. Maarten.Source: ANP

Free Wifi Available in Curaçao’s City CenterThanks to an initiative by the Curaçao Tourism Board (CTB), free wifi will be available in Curaçao’s city center. Direc-tor of CTB, Hugo Clarinda, explained that it’s free but not unlimited. Access to the network can be obtained by gi-ving one’s e-mail address. Wifi will be available in Punda from Marshe Nobo to Wilhelminaplein and in Otrobanda at the Mega Pier, Riffort Village and the Brionplein. UTS will provide for the in-frastructure of the network and CTB will manage it.


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