Government is moving in the right direction over the issue of term limits and showing its commitment to the international business sector.

That is the view of George Hutchings, the new chairman of the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC), who spoke in an exclusive interview with The Royal Gazette last week about a number of challenges facing the industry ranging from crime and education to immigration and regulatory issues.

Mr Hutchings, who is also the senior vice-president and chief operating officer at the OIL Group of Companies, took over the role from David Ezekiel and is keen to continue the work his predecessor has done.

"In terms of what we are planning to do, I don't think we are going to be doing anything differently from what we have done before," he said. "The goals and the missions are the same in terms of championing the interests of international business."

Having joined the ABIC board five years ago, Mr. Hutchings has seen a lot of change during his time as a director, the latest of which has been the change of Premier and the appointment of a new administration.

And going forward, he has a number of matters on his agenda, including maintaining an open and ongoing dialogue with Government, helping to keep the cost of doing business in Bermuda to a manageable level and working towards resolving the issue of crime which has blighted the Island in recent months, in addition to ensuring that the education system continues to produce quality Bermudian talent.

Also high on his list will be Solvency II and its application to Bermuda through giving constant feedback to the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) and working with Government on work permits, while being able to provide regular input to all of the above.

"It is not one issue per se," he said. "It is a number because our interest is in continuing to maintain Bermuda as an attractive domicile both in terms of retaining existing businesses and bringing in new ones."

Accepting that term limits were here to stay, Mr. Hutchings believes that Government and international business needs to strike a balance between both interests in terms of the Island protecting and developing Bermudians and recruiting the talent to fulfil specialised roles and meet the industry's requirements.

Last week at the ABIC annual general meeting, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Kim Wilson revealed that of the 6,817 active work permits, 35 percent or 2,394 have been granted waivers; a further 35 percent have been granted extensions and 30 percent or 2,037 are subject to term limits of six years - the disclosure of which Mr. Hutchings welcomed as a step in the right direction.

"I think it was an indication that they understand some of our issues," he said. "International business is a very wide variety of companies and their needs differ significantly and it is about making sure that there is a balance across all of these categories that is palatable to both sides."

In favour of Solvency II, Mr. Hutchings reckons that Bermuda's willingness to achieve equivalence is an indicator of its intent, but acknowledged that it may impact individual companies in different ways depending on which part of the world they do business, however he commended the BMA for its approach to listening to the each of their concerns.

Acknowledging the hike in payroll tax to 16 percent introduced in the last Budget, he said that was one of the costs of doing business, although many business leaders had expected to see Government take appropriate action in return for raising revenue by reducing its own spending. But he was pleased to see there had now been some recognition of that issue on the latter's part.

"The new Government has already reached out to us through Minister Wilson on the immigration side and Minister Patrice Minors on the business development aspect, so that is all very positive," he said.

"I get the impression that it is a co-ordinated effort across the Ministries to be part of the process with the business community.

"Currently, I think what we would expect from Government is an appreciation as to what the current economic situation is doing to business on the Island - and it is not just in international business, but domestically as well - and take those into consideration when formulating its policy going forward.

"What would be helpful would be is that we have a seat at the table giving constant input on what is going on so that it can achieve that goal."

He said his members were also keen to see the level of crime brought under control following the recent spate of activity in order to maintain Bermuda's selling point of being a safe place with a high quality of life.

Mr. Hutchings started in finance at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1981 before joining Infotechnology Inc., a New York-based venture capital firm that specialised in investing in early stage technology based companies.

He returned to Bermuda in 1990 following two years at business school, joining Zurich International (Bermuda) Ltd. as vice-president of underwriting and marketing just as the market for structured insurance and reinsurance products was beginning to develop.

A year later, Mr. Hutchings joined Centre Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd. as vice-president of underwriting to help the company develop its structured insurance underwriting capabilities to internationally based Fortune 1000 companies.

On leaving Centre, he went on to work for Risk Intermediation Structured Capital (Bermuda) Ltd. in the capacity of executive vice-president for almost one year prior to joining The OIL Group of Companies in June 2005.

Mr. Hutchings, who holds a BA in Economics from Duke University, and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business, previously held the position of senior vice-president and chief operating officer of Oil Casualty Insurance Ltd.

In his current role he is responsible for the company's insurance and claims operations, as well as leading the strategic planning process and shareholder initiatives.