Malta PM says decisions on citizenship by investment schemes should not be taken by politicians

This is the flagship model used by advocates of investor and citizenship immigration programs in Canada. Does not change the fundamental question of the morality and ethics of buying citizenship, and that this is largely driven by the business interests of consultants, rather than broader ones:

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat underlined the benefits of the Citizenship by Investment programme for the Maltese economy when he addressed the Investment Migration Forum 2016 in Geneva this afternoon.

The forum is being hosted by the Investment Migration Council, a worldwide association for investor immigration and citizenship-by-investment, grouping the leading stakeholders in the field and giving the industry a voice.

Dr Muscat said the global industry linked to citizenship by investment would grow when criteria for such schemes were known and decisions were taken by technical people and not politicians.

He said that it was on this basis that Malta successfully launched its programme, which was now yielding great benefits for the economy.

He said that despite controversies, Malta’s scheme still remained the only one approved by the European Commission.

Source: PM says decisions on citizenship by investment schemes should not be taken by politicians – timesofmalta.com