Island earns recognition 'at highest level'

Treasury Minister Anne Craine has been telling a distinguished audience in Washington about the success of a programme which has been running out of the Island's International Business School - in conjunction with Oxford University - for the past two years.

The Small Countries Financial Management Programme focuses on creating future leaders of developing countries and, at the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Mrs Craine said the results to date had been 'breathtaking'.

She says the Manx Government's commitment to international development, particularly through the Small Countries Programme, is helping to promote positive awareness of the Island, and generate prestige and recognition at the very highest level.

Mrs Craine says the Isle of Man is keen to continue the programme, and that message was put across loud and clear in the American capital (play audio file):

During her visit to Washington, Mrs Craine also attended a meeting of the Commonwealth finance ministers, including United Kingdom Chancellor George Osborne, who she had met a few days earlier at the Conservative Party Conference.