Islands' Chambers of Commerce hold meeting for the first time

A MEETING of four Channel Islands Chambers of Commerce has agreed that the days of 'competitive arbitrage' between the islands are over.

The Guernsey Chamber organised the first meeting between itself and the Chambers of Jersey, Alderney and Sark.

'It was excellent,' said Guernsey president Julian Winser. 'We were seeing today, and we really do see this starkly and clearly, the death of competitive arbitrage between the islands.

'We are viewed by the rest of the world as being the Channel Islands and when our business future is working with the rest of the world, we almost have a duty to stop viewing our biggest competitor as the island closest by and start thinking more constructively. There is a huge benefit in standing together rather than being divided and failing.'

Mr Winser said the first pan-island summit had been deliberately kept very general.