GUERNSEY and Jersey can enhance their value to the UK and Europe through further developing the business they do in the Far East and India, according to international affairs expert Colin Powell, pictured right.

The keynote speaker at this month’s Channel Islands Stock Exchange International Business Summit gave an upbeat assessment of the prospects for international finance centres such as Guernsey and Jersey to the 250 delegates.

There were particularly good business opportunities to be exploited, he said, if the islands successfully tapped into the growth economies of China and India.

Mr Powell, who is currently an adviser on international affairs to the States of Jersey and chairman of the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors, said tax information exchange agreements with countries in the region were an important first step in strengthening political and business relationships.

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