TEATT
MINISTRY OF TOURISM, ECONOMIC AFFAIRS,
TRAFFIC AND TELECOMMUNICATION
SINT MAARTEN – INVESTING IN TOMORROW
INFRASTRUCTURE
Sint Maarten’s infrastructure has experienced significant upgrades including large scale beautification to Philipsburg, the Capital and surrounding districts. As a well-developed country, Sint Maarten has the infrastructural capacity for new investments in the identified sectors. Investors need not worry about getting to Sint Maarten or the shipping of materials needed for construction as SXM Airport and Port Sint Maarten offer modern facilities for the movement of people and goods.
PRINCESS JULIANA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
From a tiny US military airstrip in 1942, in the thick of World War II, to an ultra-modern international airport in 70 years, SXM Airport has advanced by leaps and bounds. Designed to handle some 2.5 million passengers annually, the terminal building offered (at least until the arrival of Hurricane Irma in 2017) 30,500 square meters (328,000 sq ft) of floor space and was fully air-conditioned. With its unique aircraft landings, SXM Airport is an airport like no other. Serving as a transit hub for Anguilla, St. Barths, Saba, St. Eustatius and other destinations in the Northeastern Caribbean, SXM Airport is an ideal distribution gateway.
Available facilities included 46 check-in desks, 10 transit desks and 13 boarding gates. There were 20 immigration booths for arriving passengers and five exit-control booths for departing passengers. The building also featured 40 shops and food & beverage units—some unique to Sint Maarten—promoted under the retail theme 'So Much More'. Never complacent, SXM Airport continues to improve its four-level, ultra-modern facility. SXM Airport’s future developments include the expansion of its cargo facilities, increased parking area for helicopters and private jets, construction of a parallel taxiway and the relocation of private aviation services companies for expanded private jet service.
PORT SINT MAARTEN
The Port of Sint Maarten is the Northeast Caribbean’s leadging cruise and cargo facility. As the most used cargo port in the Northeast Caribbean, the Port of Sint Maarten’s Captain David Cargo Quay handles approximately 75,000 TEUs annually, making Sint Maarten a feeder port to neighboring islands.
While leading the region in cargo operations, the Port of Sint Maarten also leads the cruise industry as one of the few piers able to comfortably accommodate Genesis-class vessels, the world’s largest cruise vessels. With multiple booths for passenger screening, Port of Sint Maarten facilitates quick disembarkation so that visitors may enjhoy all that Sint Maarten has to offer.
Port of Sint Maarten prides itself on its continuous growth and award winning faciliattes which include the welcoming sounds of steelpans, various shopping options, ground and water transportation to Philispburg and a large array of onshore excursions. Further development plans for the Port of Sint Maarten include the construction of ‘The Dutch Village’ which will expand the shopping and dining facilities at the port. Similarly, with the growth of Sint Maarten’s homeporting, the island will accommodate even more visitors, creating an expanded market for new investments.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
In 2004, Sint Maarten invested 15 million US Dollars into the purchasing and installation of a Fiber Optic Cable to enhance the Sint Maarten’s telecommunication infrastructure. This investment was done via The Sint Maarten Telecommunication Holding Company N.V. (TelEm Group), a Government led entity. Sint Maarten invested in a SMPR-1, an 8-pair non-repeated submarine telecommunications cable system of 375 km which uses Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) technology to link Sint Maarten and Puerto Rico. to enhance the Sint Maarten’s telecommunications infrastructure. The Sint Maarten Telephone Company, Telem, has embarked on a fiber to home project for the Dutch side which is scheduled to be completed by 2023.
Via these telecommunication investments Sint Maarten can provide you with all the necessary ingredients to help your company expand, increase its returns and improve its market position - a perspective that is definitely worth a closer look.
UTILITIES
NV GEBE, or is the sole utility company producing and distributing electricity and water on Sint Maarten. GEBE has a capacity of 76MW with close to 20,000 connections. GEBE strives to be the leading utility company in the Caribbean by providing reliable electricity, water and waste water management services in a cost efficient and customer oriented manner. With Government’s introduction of an Energy Policy, Sint Maarten is set to produce 25 percent of its energy from renewable sources.