Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons has warned that term limits to work permits may at first appear to protect Bermudians, but in reality they may lead to reduced opportunities for Bermudians in the international business sector. Dr. Gibbons said that the increase in proportion of jobs held by non-Bermudians, which has gone from 23.4 percent in 1998 to 26.6 per cent in 2002, was a matter for concern.

"Since 1999, 770 non-Bermudians have been hired across the economy. What we really need to do is to find a better way to get Bermudians and particularly young Bermudians into these positions."

However, he said that more emphasis should given to increasing the pool of suitably qualified young Bermudians instead of focusing on too many expatriates.

Initiatives such as the Bermuda Foundation of Insurance Studies might be a better solution to what he termed the "punitive approach" of work permit term limits.

BFIS raises funds from over 50 insurance companies and service providers to assist Bermudians who wish to go into the insurance field.

By granting scholarships, assisting with summer placements, giving careers advice and running a mentoring programme for Bermudians, BFIS plays an active role in increasing the number of qualified Bermudians in international business.

A list of students who received BFIS scholarships and loans since 1996 shows that 20 are now working in international insurance companies in Bermuda.

Dr. Gibbons said that concerns about term limits and other immigration hassles may actually be causing companies to reduce the number of entry level jobs in Bermuda.

Growth in numbers of new incorporations has slowed from about 10 percent per annum in 2000 to zero increase in 2002.

"While term limits on the face of it have some appeal, I don't believe they were thought through sufficiently carefully by the Smith government because the result may be very different to what was intended. The very jobs that we want to have available may actually get exported somewhere else. Companies will keep the senior positions here because those are deemed to be `key' under the immigration policy rules and in the end, the entry level jobs will actually be reduced, thus reducing opportunities and choice and making term limits simply counter productive."

Dr. Gibbons said he is aware of at least one rapidly growing insurance company that is not expanding any more in Bermuda. Instead, it is expanding in Ireland and the US.

"We really need to make sure that we don't provide disincentives to international business, particularly considering some of the pressures they're under right now, which result in more of these jobs going out of Bermuda. From my perspective, in order for Bermudians to believe that immigration is working for them it's got to be more efficient, it's got to be more transparent and its got to be more accountable."

Calling for a more co-ordinated approach to the issue of sustainability of international business in Bermuda, he said: "Many Bermudians believe that the current immigration systems aren't working well for anybody. They're not working well for many young Bermudians whose rights are not being properly protected, and they're not working well for the business sector either. People are concerned about delays and very expensive bureaucracy."

In addition, he said Bermuda's economy is showing growing dependence on international business, but the growth of that sector has a serious impact on things like housing, traffic and environment. Consequently there should be further analysis of the sustainability of this sector as well as a more proactive search for means to diversify or broaden the economy.

"We're dealing with a different climate, yet there appears to be no co-ordination between immigration and the Ministry of Finance. Policy decisions on the sustainability of international business do not appear to be co-ordinated. This is why the UBP has for the last four or five years called for a look at the sustainability of international business and limits to growth."