Breakdown of Curacao’s GDP

Formerly known as Netherlands Antilles, this island in the southern Caribbean Sea is one of many islands in the Lesser Antilles. Along with Aruba and Bonaire, it forms the ABC islands, a group of islands that are also known as the Dutch Caribbean.

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Tourism Financial Services Oil Refining Online Gaming Curacao GDP Economical Indicators in Numbers

Curacao is one of the most developed islands and countries in this part of the world. Throughout history, the island was initially used for salt mining but today, it is best known for its strong tourism and financial sector, but those aren’t the only reasons for the island’s strong economy. Oil refining is another strong industry, while big incomes also come from online gambling.

So, let’s do a quick breakdown of the Curacaos industry:

Tourism

Tourism is definitely one of the first things that come to mind. This island is a very popular destination among tourists from the United States, South America, Germany, and, of course, the Netherlands.

Curacao is famous for its beautiful beaches and coral reefs. Therefore, it is also a popular destination for an active vacation and a great place for snorkeling and scuba diving.

Unfortunately, like in many parts of the world, coral reefs have been affected by tourism, so the authorities are now experimenting with artificial reefs, which should improve the overall biodiversity.

Another thing that makes Curacao a great tourist destination is its excellent infrastructure. The big advantage over most Caribbean countries is that the island is located outside the Hurricane belt. Finally, there were big plans for space tourism during the last decade but that is currently put on hold.

Financial Services

Financial services are another super-strong industry on this small island. It dates back to the early 19th century when local merchant houses started to turn into commercial banks.

Eventually, these banks would become fully-fledged financial institutions. Today, this count is one of the tax heavens in this part of the world, especially for big corporations. The government supports all kinds of corporate structures but also enforces Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism funding compliance.

At the same time, it adheres to the EU Code of Conduct against harmful tax practices and also has an intermediary status from the United States I.R.S.

Oil Refining

As you probably know, Curacao is located only 65 kilometers from Venezuela, which is a county with some of the largest oil reserves in the world. Back in the early 20th century, when the Maracaibo Basin was discovered, the Venezuelan government needed a proper location for refining and Curacao turned out to be an excellent location. So, the Isla oil refinery was built in 1918.

Since then, Venezuela uses this refinery. Currently, the refinery is operated by Petroleos de Venezuela, a state-owned company, with a capacity of more than 300.000 barrels per day. The government also started the discussion with a Chinese company called Guangdong Zhenrong Energy, but this is still in the negotiations phase.

Online Gaming

Besides traditional industries, there is another important source of income for Curacao. That is the online casino industry, which is one of the fastest-growing industries today.

This country is among the first ones that allowed operators to establish headquarters on its soil. According to Tony Volcano at Bonusdreams – which is a trusted source for online casino information, there are more than 500 online casinos registered in Curacao.

There are several reasons why so many casinos choose Curacao over some other popular online gaming destinations. First of all, the government runs a pretty affirmative tax policy, as operators are required to pay just 2% of their net income.

Not only that Curacao is tax heaven for online casinos, but it is also a country where it’s much easier to gain a license compared to other major commissions.

This is great for start-up casinos, which can gain a license that’s recognized worldwide pretty easily. The whole process isn’t too complicated, and it’s also good to know that the license is universal and applies to different types of the online gaming industry.

The licensing expenses are also quite low. The initial cost is $34,000, while there are also monthly fees of 5,600 dollars in the first two years. Finally, the government offers technical and financial support, which includes dedicated services, private cloud servers, and international financial services.