Premier Craig Cannonier said term limits were a major stumbling block for attracting bigger businesses with larger staff numbers to Bermuda.And since scrapping that policy, he said, the Island had seen a “marked interest in Bermuda and in the first quarter”.The Premier made the comments in a wide ranging interview with UK publication The Report Company, distributed with Britain’s Guardian newspaper. In it he outlined his objectives and strategies.“These include bolstering Bermuda’s reputation as a venue of choice for financial services, developing sustainable tourism and educating top-notch talents at home, TRC said.Asked what he had managed to achieve in his time in office so far, the Premier told TRC: “As a new government, our top priority coming into office was to ensure that our economic policies were responsive enough to meet the needs of financial services here. We're going after job creation and if there were policies in place that restricted businesses from growing, then we knew we had to make adjustments. The key was to help sustain the businesses that were already here, while at the same time remove the detrimental policies that were not allowing new business to flow in.“The first task was to find out where we (as a country) were financially; which included sitting down with the civil service and figuring out the best way forward for restructuring. After this assessment, we knew we needed to do away with term limits a major stumbling block for attracting bigger businesses with larger staff numbers. Since then, we have seen a marked interest in Bermuda and in the first quarter, we saw a rise in the number of registered businesses compared with the same period last year. The change in policy is working.”The Premier noted reductions in the property tax structure had also seen results.“Last year, we only had one high-end registered property for sale and in this first quarter, we have seen three such properties purchased,” he told TRC.“We know that the policies we are looking at and developing are working. I'm very humbled that we are already seeing what is an unexpected turnaround within the first quarter.”Mr Cannonier said the financial sector accounted for 70 percent of our GDP.“One of our challenges as a new Government was recognising that things were a bit worse than we had anticipated.“We found we had to make personal calls to various stakeholders and that is what my ministers and I have been doing.”TRC also asked the Premier about “the tide of public and political opinion turning against offshore centres” and how Bermuda was trying to escape the tax haven label.His response was: “That label has always been out there. We established the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) and it is well recognised for its stringent standards and high level of competency and we will ensure that we tighten the noose on any irregularities. Our regulation is stringent and we will continue to look for opportunities to tighten up that net so we do not have any loopholes. We signed a FACTA agreement with the US, we have a similar agreement in place with the UK and have also recently agreed with the EU to sign the OAD.“We will continue to let the world know that we believe in the highest standards and that our good reputation makes us the captive insurance capital of the world. We are leaders in the reinsurance and insurance industry, which can be attributed to our regulation standards. We are literally a one-stop shop for the insurance industry and I think the world has recognised that. As far as our international agreements go, we will continue to review these and maintain our regulatory standards.”On the struggling tourism industry, he told TRC: “About two days ago, we had a cruise ship come to our shores with 4,000 passengers and 1,500 crew and this really marks the direction in which we want to go. We are looking at making those personal calls to travel agents; we want to let people know Bermuda is one of the most beautiful places in the world and the people here are among the most hospitable you will find.”And on relations with the UK, Mr Cannonier said: “We are looking for many opportunities to diversify our economic links and our markets with the UK. The British government has been very agreeable in working with us on many issues.“I do believe that more work can be done in ensuring that the British Parliament understands Bermuda better as a jurisdiction, so we can ensure there are no misperceptions about Bermuda as a tax haven. Although it's only been five months, it's been a great relationship thus far.”Asked how he would like Bermuda to be perceived internationally over the next five years of his term, he told TRC: “What we want to ensure is that the investment world knows that we are a one-stop shop, that doing business in Bermuda has never been easier than now. That's our message to the international community, that's our message to the finance community. We have high standards, but we have also streamlined the process to set up businesses here. I set up a business development committee, which puts all the stakeholders in the room and everything gets done within a month, instead of six months as in the past.“Our vision is to ensure that our young people thrive and can live out their dreams right here in Bermuda.”–He continued: “In 2013, we need to position ourselves as a place for doing business; we need to get this country back to the pre-eminent position it always had. It's very exciting, based on the responses we've had, we're getting substantial interest.“We're going to create a unique marine park that will be second to none for tourists. We have protected waters where people can come and see species in their natural habitat.“We want to ensure the investment world knows that we are a one-stop shop, that doing business in Bermuda has never been easier than now.”Click on this link with the Report Company for the full article: http://www.the-report.net/bermuda/477-interview-craig-cannonier-premier-of