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Welcome to the Free Cities podcast.

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My name is Timothy Allen and this is the official podcast of the Free Cities Foundation.

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this is episode number two of the free cities podcast and this week i'm coming to you from the

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island of roatan in honduras i've come here to visit a place called prospera now for those of

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you that don't know, Prospera is a private charter city and special economic zone on this island.

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And I've come here to speak with Ricardo Gonzalez, who is a council member at Prospera.

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Prospera is based on the Honduran ZA law. ZAs are zones for employment and economic development,

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and it has its own civil law and regulatory structure, independent of that of Honduras.

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This conversation is basically a deep dive into everything Prospera,

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including its history and the history of the ZA law,

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what it's like to live in a place like Prospera, what it's like to work here,

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and what it's like to deal with a government in respect to setting up a ZA.

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This was the first time I've ever been to a place like Prospera,

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so many of my questions are pretty basic,

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but hopefully you'll get as much out of the answers

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as I did.

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Ricardo is very thorough in his explanations,

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and I'm truly thankful for the time I spent with him.

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So, without further ado, it just leaves me to say to you,

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please relax, sit back, and hopefully enjoy

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my conversation with Ricardo Gonzalez.

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we're we're in prospera in on the island of ratan riotan roatan roatan in honduras and we're we're

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in a lovely building overlooking sort of semi-jungle and which on a hillside which goes down to the

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ocean just over there and it's we must be in the rainy season is that right because it's it's raining

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a lot. That's right, yeah. From October and on, it's raining till maybe mid-February next year.

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Right. So, thanks for inviting us here. And can you just tell us who you are and what your role

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is here? Yeah, absolutely. So, my name is Ricardo Gonzalez. I am Honduras Prospera's

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in-house council member here in the ground, you know, setting up base. I see everything

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Prospera legal and Honduran compliance jurisdictions. I also help the business

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development team with basically helping entrepreneurs from Honduras and the world learn more about how

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Prospera works and how it can better suit their needs as a jurisdiction and a government as a

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service platform. And what about your sort of like personal history yourself prior to this?

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Obviously you're from Roatan or? Well no I was born and raised in the capital Tegucigalpa.

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I lived there all my way through high school.

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Right after that, I had sort of an opportunity to start over in the second biggest city of Honduras, San Pedro Sula.

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Not necessarily because I wanted to, but my parents moved to that city right after high school.

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So that's where I developed my professional career and my college years as well.

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I studied as an attorney in law school there.

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and right after law school I decided that I wanted to start up a law firm that was going to be catered

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specifically for startups so I've always been startup centric in my life that's the way I wanted

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to help people as a startup attorney my main focus was to help Hondurans navigate the Honduran legal

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system for them to be able to basically fulfill their dream goal of being self-employed and

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creating their own business and was like growing right and very early on in the first couple of

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years of having this law firm myself and my partners noticed that Honduras was lacking

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a lot on the startup ecosystem so we had a very nice small community of entrepreneurs in the

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country however I would notice that very quickly you would just get all the market cap you could

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in the first two to three years of your startup.

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And then if you do not envision globalizing yourself

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and expanding into foreign markets,

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then you would never really grow beyond a very small market.

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And since we're in Central America,

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we are an emerging market.

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We are not very well developed.

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So I decided that I wanted to go get my corporate law master's degree

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at Penn State University in the U.S.

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with the whole intention to learn how corporate law worked in the U.S.

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on a startup scale and literally took courses to develop my skills to understand how startups in

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the u.s works how the incorporation process looks like and then bring that back here to honduras and

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eventually bring my honduran entrepreneur clients to the u.s for them to globalize access better

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funding better jurisdictions better taxation and whatnot and very serendipitous i would say

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a friend of mine was already working for prospera and he's like visiting the u.s and he's like hey

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I'm pretty close to you. I want to visit you or you can just come and visit me. I'm in Maryland.

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And I just picked up a car, went to pick him up. And he's like, hey, but, you know, stay a night.

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I actually want you to meet my boss, Eric Brimman. And I want you to hear about what the project he's

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doing right now is. And so having some crab cakes in Maryland, which I've heard they're pretty famous

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for, we sat down with Trey Goff as well. And they essentially pitched me this place. Right. So what

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think about a place where you had a very amicable regulatory environment where taxation was very low

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where you don't have to worry about bureaucracy and access to justice is swift and effective

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and among other things i'm just hearing about this place or everything that i wanted for my

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hondarian entrepreneur clients that's what i wanted for them and as i'm listening to eric and

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try to go on and on and on explaining Prospera to me without telling me what Prospera was.

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This was before Prospera came public.

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I told him this sounds fantastic.

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Like this is very aligned to what I already want for my underlying clients.

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This is exactly what I was looking for.

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And he just goes, well, what do you think about the fact that I'm doing that in your

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country already?

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And this is what we're doing.

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And he just introduces Prospera to me and all that.

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And I'm like, this is fantastic.

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This is what I wanted.

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so right after I graduated from my master's degree my friend had reached

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out to me and said hey you already graduated are you ready to come on board

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I'm like can I and he's like yeah for sure like you had the common law

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background which we apply inside of Prospera you're already a civil law

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Honduran attorney and you're also very startup inclined so you very much fit

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what we're trying to accomplish here you're basically a Honduran who's gonna

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to be able to show Prospera itself how to better mix and match with what best practices

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would be in comparison to the under-regulation.

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As I was listening to you then, it occurred to me maybe I should hear your definition

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of what Prospera is because there most probably will be a few people out there that aren't

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necessarily sure what it is.

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I'd quite like to know physically what it is, according to you,

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but also after that, like maybe ideologically for you,

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it seems that you were interested in the concept behind Prospera

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and other people may not find as inspiring.

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Right. Well, yeah.

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So, Prospera itself is a platform that catalyzes opportunities and prosperity

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by providing the best governance services that are privately handled to people from across the

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world in Honduras to enjoy from less bureaucracy, less constriction, and more freedom of speech,

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market, private property, and whatnot. So Péros Pérez as a platform just provides this

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great platform that's not necessarily a physical space, but a platform that you could use for your

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businesses or just to come live on a freer part of the world but i mean as far as i can tell

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this is most definitely a physical place yes and it's got buildings and there's houses there's

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accommodation being built and i'm i'm very much in i mean educate me on this you know like how big

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is it you know how many buildings are there already here what's planned you know yeah for sure

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So yeah, definitely.

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So Prospera, it is a place, in fact, yes.

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But Prospera is the platform.

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And then Prospera has built this governance platform that is to be replicated in different parts of the world.

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So Prospera is not just here where we're sitting down right now.

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Prospera could potentially be somewhere else in other countries.

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And different sites have different names.

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For instance, right now we're sitting in St. John's Bay.

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that's the name we've given to this Roatan development that we're doing under the Prosper

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platform so we also have another hub in La Ceiba which is going to be more industrial

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the hub here in St. John's Bay is meant to be more of a financial center with more service

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oriented businesses and then in La Ceiba we're looking to be more industrial more factories more

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import export activities so currently in here in St. John's Bay we are sitting in the Beta building

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the beta building will i know trey already mentioned about a little bit in the liberty

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and lifetimes conference but this is our first building where we prove the concept that

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by law the set a law gave us through the government of honduras the ability to be

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functionally self-autonomous in the regulations that we can generate right can i just um butt in

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a little bit and have you um elaborate a little bit on what a zeta is in case someone doesn't know

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Yeah, for sure.

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What is it? It stands for something, right?

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Yeah, so CERE stands for Zones of Economic Employment and Development.

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It's a law that was passed back in 2013 by the Honduran government,

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essentially to be able to create these platforms that would essentially become known as charter cities

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in a way in which the government gives a concession of land that is purchased by the developers of the CERE

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to essentially then have them try out a better way to do things.

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So the CEDA law establishes that you can create your own municipal-like authority

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that then would promulgate different regulations and govern in regards to taxes,

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to registries, to norms in general.

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So the CEDA is the law that gives life to charter cities in Honduras.

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and what about the size of this place the area is there a limit to the amount of land that a ZTE can

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occupy I'm interested to know how a government how you approach a government to basically

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sort of like say we kind of want to do our own thing here right so the set of law establishes

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already what areas can be converted into Cere land. So you're basically limited and I cannot

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give you a specific number because this is depending on how much land you're able to acquire,

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how much land can you buy from people and private entities. But itself, the government is not like

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giving you the whole country, like you're gonna just do this anywhere you want. It has to be low

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density areas where there's no people living, where you can essentially start from scratch and start

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that development. And if at some point, well, anybody else wants to integrate their communities

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into the CEDE platform, the Próspera platform, then they would have to go into a more public

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voting procedure in which people would say like, yes, I'm in favor of us subjecting ourselves to

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that jurisdiction. So it's voluntarily. Like everybody could become part of it, but it has

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to be in certain specific zones that the law already establishes. And for instance, right now,

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we're sitting in 58 acres of land that is the first 58 acres of lands that we

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acquired to start building this platform and in total with all the properties

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that have already been incorporated not only this 58 acres but the rest it's

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becoming around 700 acres they're not all adjacent they don't have to be next

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to each other but it also serves as the hubs that I was speaking about prior to

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this that you have St. John's Bay here you're gonna have something else in La

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and we can potentially have some other hub named differently,

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but always under the Prospera platform in other parts of the country.

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Give me an example of where the Prospera platform's rules

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are very different from the government's rules, let's say.

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I'm trying to understand what the difference is, let's say.

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Give me a really obvious example of one that's quite distinct.

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Right.

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Okay.

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So very right off the bat, we operate under common law.

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Honduras is a civil law country.

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So we follow something that's called Roman law.

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That's where it all derives.

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It's black and white letter law that is followed by the book.

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Then in Prospera, we are using common law because it's more flexible, more convenient for investment in companies itself.

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So just having two different legal systems entirely, it's already a big difference from the main government.

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But not only that, our registers are different, our procedures are different.

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Bureaucracy-wise, it's much, much less than the regular government of Honduras.

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Steps to creating entities or to becoming a resident are much straightforward and easier to complete than if you go through the national level.

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and in itself it just provides a ton of benefits from taxation which is super low here in Próspera

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in comparison to many places in the world but especially Honduras and then import regulations

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entity creation registry of humans who are going to start operating individually or just coming to

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live here so it's it's almost a completely set of rules that are different in the national

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government. However, we are still under the supervision of the government by the Committee

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of Adoption of Better Practices, which is a branch of the executive power that oversees

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the regulation that we are trying to approve. And that's just the regulatory side of the

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government. But also, we have a... Sorry, went on a tangent there.

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Sorry, what's that hissing noise? It's actually the rain coming down.

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it is yeah it really picks it up yeah yeah um let me just butt in then yeah because i i i'm

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listening to you saying how amazing it is here and how easy it is than in other parts of honduras

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and i'm thinking surely that makes the government feel pretty insecure about what they're doing

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i mean how does that how does that side of it work if if what you're offering here is is

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bureaucratically better, possibly socially better, I don't know.

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How does that, do they look at it or are they looking at it and going,

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well, we should mimic that or we should stop that or we should, you know?

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Yeah, so effectively I think that that's what we're going for.

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I think that Prospera itself is going to be an example of competitive governance

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on a local level, to which point not the main government first,

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but probably other municipalities are going to be like, okay,

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they're having a ton of success by applying that specific regime they're using we want some of that

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so i would expect that in the next five to ten years you would see municipalities trying to seek

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some type of government approved program similar to seris that would allow the municipality to have

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as much of autonomy as we have that would allow them to channelize their prosperity that way and

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that eventually would make the whole government say okay we need to be more competitive because

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Everybody's just going there, but we're not getting as much money from there as we could if we just tax it at the regular level.

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So how can we start using their regulation to be mimicked and implemented into the rest of the country?

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And you're, personally, you're quite positive about the idea that a government might try and be more competitive.

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It's not something they're well known for.

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yeah i mean you know i think at the at the end of the other day uh competition is good

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competition has always been healthy uh of course it can get out of hand but on this scenario like

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what i would expect is to say okay many people say okay why don't you just not make the whole

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country a set a why don't we just change everything and i think that it's not something

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bad i think that's something good if progressively you start trying to mimic better practices that

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are already being implemented in the country, then it makes a lot of sense that those things

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go rippling out of the set and into the national government and effectively making everybody's

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lives better and easier.

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Yeah, I totally agree with the idea and the concept that what I slightly struggle with

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is the notion that a government would shoot itself in the foot like that, as we say.

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It's like allowing, in one way, you could see it as you allow a Trojan horse in and

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the horse then completely changes everything but like I say historically governments aren't

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notorious for wanting to be more competitive because they have a monopoly on on the rules on the the whole So do you know much about the process as it began of when the Honduran government were first approached with this idea

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and what kind of hoops that were needed to be jumped through in order to sort of allow to arrive at this situation?

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Of course. So think about this. Special economic zones are better known and implemented in developing countries more than they are in countries that have already been developed, like the US or European countries that are already well off.

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the reason special economic zones exist especially why prosper exists is because as a developing

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country we've had flaws all across history that have stopped or hindered our development and doing

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it the way that we've been doing it for the last hundred years has not worked it has not proven

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to be successful so it's not as much as shooting yourself as a government in the foot but rather

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saying like we need to try something different to get different results than what we've had

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in the past so at the beginning uh the government back in the 2010s 2012

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they went to approve this law that was substantially more

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radical i'd say so it was more in accordance to what paul romer wanted when he defined a charter

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city right uh it was almost completely autonomous completely detached from the host country it was

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itself a government instead of another government right and that of course got repealed that really

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quickly the the hundred government says like no this is this is too crazy this is too much

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uh that's too much power uh and that's exactly what people were saying at the moment like this

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is a state inside of a state so that law got repealed and it was even seen at the supreme

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court level and the supreme court says like hey no you gotta like look at this and change all these

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things if you ever want to try this again so sure thing they went go back to the drawing board and

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start scraping off things that were unconstitutional or were against national treaties or that would

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hinder sovereignty from the undarian government into these specific zones so after cutting trimming

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and fixing they presented this set of law as we know it now and after a review again by the supreme

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Court, they say, okay, we judge and we rule that everything that we asked them to change

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got changed.

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And now this is not a violation of the Constitution or the international treaties.

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It does not affect sovereignty.

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This now can work as is.

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And that's more or less when in 2013, the set of law was approved and the Supreme Court

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ruled in favor of it.

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And ever since then, the government has been looking for investors to say like, hey, I

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have this very cool law right now that you could try out.

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Who's a taker?

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Who wants to come and actually invest in Honduras

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under this set of rules that are substantially better

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than almost anything there is in the region?

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And sure thing, eventually Prospera caught wind of this law

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and said, okay, this is the place where we can do

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what we were already planning on doing.

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We've been working for almost a decade

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on getting all of our regulations,

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all of our things together.

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And this is the country where we can do it.

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And well, we have the advantage

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being an amazing paradise island where not only you have a great amount of regulations but you also

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have usually an amazing weather. I like the sound of it it's very comforting hearing the rain out

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there so okay you've changed my mind so arguably then the government had foresight they didn't

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shoot themselves in the foot you could say they they thought that what they may have done in the

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you know the the seeds they're sowing now we will be reaped in the future yeah I mean what's the

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definition of crazy doing the same thing over and over and expecting something to change so something

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different had to happen for eventual development to happen so this is it you said earlier that you

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when you heard about prosper you realized that you're you were kind of quite ideologically

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aligned with what was going on here was that something that was in your consciousness before

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or was it that you heard about it and they went, oh yeah, yeah.

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So I was already into a lot of studies.

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I worked at a think tank.

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That's where I did most of my internship for law school.

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And I was already ideologically inclined

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into the whole concept of free cities and whatnot.

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I already knew about the set a lot back in the time.

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I had the chance to work with amazing people

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who were very knowledgeable on these matters.

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but then I grew more into the startup local environment and I kind of threw that in the

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back of my head and when I got it pitched to me by Eric and Trey I was not really thinking about

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CETIS at the time and CETIS again the law was passed in 2013 I remember hearing about it back

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then I was fresh into law school and then the next time I heard about CETIS was 2020

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20 so it was seven years from when the law was approved then seven years of silence about this

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law and then boom but it appears and it's like okay we've been on the works ever since to make

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sure that we were ready to launch so when i got a pitch and i heard about it i knew already about

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the set of law and and everything about this but it was more about the fact that i wanted a better

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place for my hundred entrepreneurs to be able to grow for them to create prosperity and not leave

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the country like i could have definitely just stayed in the u.s and become an attorney over

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there and earn a bunch of money but then that didn't fulfill the goal that i set myself for

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that i wanted to help the entrepreneurs of my country progress and prosper and globalize

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themselves to a better market that that wouldn't help me accomplish that goal you're also a living

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breathing example of why a ZA works as well.

288
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Yeah.

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Arguably, you chose to come here and bring your own prosperity with you,

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whatever that might be.

291
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Which is, I assume, would you say that's a core principle of the ZA idea?

292
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Yeah, I would say that since its inception as a thought

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was to try to stop mass migration of the country, stop the brain drain.

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so again central america has been known historically for mass migration to the u.s

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looking for better opportunities because of the lack of employment that you could find

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in central american countries so yes that even it's in the name the said a lot literally says

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zones of employment and economic development so it is meant to be able to catalyze prosperity

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through the creation of better employment better salaries and better regulatory environments that

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would allow for more people to want to open up businesses and by that create

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more jobs so yes that's completely the whole point of the set is and how long

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have you been here yourself so I've been working for Prospera since August 2020

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and I've been hearing the island since November 2020 so we are almost at the

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two-year mark and from your perspective you personally in those two years what's

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changed here? Oh, a lot. I came here before the building was even built. The

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reason I came is because the building was about to be done. Just describe

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this building here. I mean it's a very lovely looking modern design based

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around a courtyard as far as I can see. I haven't had a proper look around yet but

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maybe you could. So it's like a contemporary architectural design which

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has open spaces wooden facades very incorporated into nature on some parts

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you're gonna be able to see that we avoid chopping trees where we could even

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allowing them to just grow through the roofs and just let the holes for the

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trees to exist this building was made specifically for us not to just create a

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concrete jungle in an island but rather start being more in touch with the nature

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that's already on it and all the aesthetic of what we have here is what

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you would expect of seeing in an island rather than just going from like just a concrete city

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no you see buildings that are more harmonized into the nature of the island so here it's it's

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been great to see how this building has developed how many people we've been hiring it's been crazy

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demand of endurance that from the island and from the mainland have come here to work because

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salaries are better conditions are better taxation is lower they get more money instead of having a

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lot of deductions and seeing so many people here and families being transformed it's just very

321
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gratifying because just sorry about in but um who is here i see a lot of people moving around

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um as what i understand no one's actually living here yet is that correct not on this side of

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prosper yes so we have the other part at pristine bay which is a more premium development that was

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already there that we incorporate into the platform there's people living there already

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but in this first 50 58 acres that we can call uh ground zero of st john's bay there's no one

326
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living here yet we're currently building a 13-story building that's going to be mixed-use

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residential office and retail areas but currently the people living here well not living but working

328
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these people are employees for different companies from abroad so perospa already has over a

329
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entities created inside of the platform and these entities are hiring and hundred employees for

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different type of things finance administration operations marketing a bunch of different tasks

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that are they are being outsourced into the jurisdiction because we provide a channel that

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basically has low cost in regards to labor costs for our company so we have a bunch of people from

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the island and the mainland working this knowledge works but we also have people from the community

334
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from around the island who are working for instance we have a small farm down here if you

335
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can see it on the left and these are being taken care of by people from the community who will

336
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eventually harvest all these vegetables and fruits sell them across the island take them back home

337
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for their families give them to our kitchen and give them to our other developments on the other

338
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site that has restaurants. So that's helping them get a job where there wasn't none. Currently,

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we're one of the biggest employers of the island. And we can certainly say we're the biggest employer

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of the community right next to us. So seeing how much we've improved many people's lives,

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how much we've changed their mindsets, and how much we've liberated markets here and diversified

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the economy of the island by introducing different type of lines of work that were not previously

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here in the island that just gives me a lot of hope for the future because previously you would

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see islanders that grow up here and say okay i want to be a fisherman i want to work at a hotel

345
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when i have my own hotel or my own restaurant so like you could see that all of their ambitions were

346
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very defined by either tourism or the fish industry but now like there's more encouragement

347
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for people to start going to school going to university learning more things because now they

348
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have a place where knowledge work is required that was previously not there.

349
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So the ambition changes. Can you give me an example of some of the companies

350
00:29:47,851 --> 00:29:52,651
that have located themselves here? Right, so we have a property management

351
00:29:52,651 --> 00:29:57,331
company which is one of the biggest. They manage properties in the US so you have

352
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people from sales here on the ground and they go over, have contract signs, people

353
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from collections, people from operations that help out with the different

354
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buildings that they already manage you have accountants from that same company then you have

355
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programmers companies that are asking for good quality programmers that not necessarily have to

356
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be in the u.s and you have other people who have schools for instance and they are doing different

357
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types of educations that are not non-traditional but are good for the people here in the island

358
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then you're bringing people who are getting taught how to teach on different ways so different type

359
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of errors are coming here from marketing, sales, operations again. So that's just one of them.

360
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But then you also have another outsourcing company that is just all across the board creating jobs

361
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for people here. And when the large building we saw as we were driving in, which is going to have

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residential units in, are you imagining that they're going to be occupied by people that are

363
00:31:01,391 --> 00:31:08,671
working here is that the idea yes so right now the island has uh one big issue and that's housing

364
00:31:08,671 --> 00:31:15,991
so because this is such a touristic island there's not necessarily a medium income place to live like

365
00:31:15,991 --> 00:31:20,271
there's either very budget friendly places that are not necessarily the best places to live at

366
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or everything is super expensive so we're trying to solve those things by creating different

367
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opportunities of housing situations by having deluxe areas but having mid-tier areas and having

368
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low-cost opportunities as well for living. Why do you think it is that there are no mid-tier

369
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areas? Why does that happen? I know what you mean. You get backpacker places or you get

370
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five-star hotels. Exactly. So why is that? I think that that's just because of what I had mentioned,

371
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the lack of economic diversity in regards to the job opportunities present in the island.

372
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So here again, you had base-level workers that would be waiters or retail workers that would just

373
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be living on the minimum wages

374
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but then you would have the super

375
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developers or the people who are already

376
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retiring, you have expats

377
00:32:09,031 --> 00:32:11,131
that are just living the life in the Caribbean

378
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and an island full of luxuries

379
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but there's nothing in the middle that you

380
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would say I have a

381
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regular medium income job

382
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and living here in the island

383
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so there wasn't that job

384
00:32:22,551 --> 00:32:24,951
so I mean arguably you're trying to

385
00:32:24,951 --> 00:32:27,351
one of the purposes

386
00:32:27,351 --> 00:32:29,451
of a place like this is to build a middle

387
00:32:29,451 --> 00:32:30,891
class, is that right?

388
00:32:30,891 --> 00:32:32,551
I wouldn't say that's the main purpose.

389
00:32:32,691 --> 00:32:33,111
Not the main.

390
00:32:33,311 --> 00:32:35,131
I mean, one of the side effects could be.

391
00:32:35,171 --> 00:32:36,791
I think that's one of the side effects for sure.

392
00:32:37,091 --> 00:32:40,051
Like, I wouldn't say that people here working are middle class.

393
00:32:40,251 --> 00:32:48,331
I'd say that for all 100 standards, these people would be upper class if living in the mainland because of the salaries being much more superior.

394
00:32:49,191 --> 00:32:50,871
But definitely, that's one of the side effects.

395
00:32:50,871 --> 00:32:58,411
People having now medium-sized income that they would require medium-priced housing for them to live in.

396
00:32:59,031 --> 00:33:00,671
So, yeah, that's some of the things that happen.

397
00:33:00,891 --> 00:33:07,911
So going back to what's happened in the last two years, what would you see as the biggest change that's happened since you've been here?

398
00:33:08,671 --> 00:33:11,091
Forget the building that's gone up.

399
00:33:11,971 --> 00:33:17,471
Is the idea of the Zete or is it the notion of what they are?

400
00:33:17,531 --> 00:33:20,611
Is it something that's becoming better known?

401
00:33:20,611 --> 00:33:28,671
I'll be honest, I've spoken to a few people on the way here just because we've met so many Americans and no one yet has known what it was.

402
00:33:28,751 --> 00:33:30,551
And that's a very anecdotal evidence.

403
00:33:30,891 --> 00:33:35,191
But how do you see it? In two years, has anything changed?

404
00:33:35,771 --> 00:33:37,031
Yes, it has changed a lot.

405
00:33:37,231 --> 00:33:41,891
So for the first year, we happened to have a political year here in the country.

406
00:33:41,891 --> 00:33:53,911
So we were about to have our presidential elections, and that just put us on a bull's eye for the opposition of a past government who was in power for the last 12 years.

407
00:33:53,911 --> 00:33:59,951
so this opposition that is currently now in power they were just trying to get into power by saying

408
00:33:59,951 --> 00:34:05,211
everything the last government did was wrong right and unfortunately the set of law happened in the

409
00:34:05,211 --> 00:34:10,171
last 12 years so consequentially once we started developing and prosper became public at the

410
00:34:10,171 --> 00:34:15,871
beginning everything was sunflower and sunshines and whatnot but then because of the political year

411
00:34:15,871 --> 00:34:21,951
things got changed there was a lot of misinformation in the air and then there was a lot of flash outs

412
00:34:21,951 --> 00:34:23,651
from people who didn't understand it at all.

413
00:34:23,991 --> 00:34:26,111
People who were just afraid of something different.

414
00:34:27,011 --> 00:34:28,591
But throughout these two years,

415
00:34:28,731 --> 00:34:30,211
and at least this year,

416
00:34:30,491 --> 00:34:33,251
I've seen much more of that changed

417
00:34:33,251 --> 00:34:35,411
because we have an open door policy.

418
00:34:35,911 --> 00:34:37,151
Anybody who comes to the island and says,

419
00:34:37,251 --> 00:34:38,591
I want to learn more about Purospa,

420
00:34:38,631 --> 00:34:40,471
I want to know about business opportunities,

421
00:34:40,631 --> 00:34:41,371
job opportunities.

422
00:34:41,671 --> 00:34:42,791
I want to know the truth.

423
00:34:42,871 --> 00:34:44,011
I want to see it with my eyes.

424
00:34:44,371 --> 00:34:45,611
We have people come from the mainland,

425
00:34:45,771 --> 00:34:46,771
from all around the island,

426
00:34:47,191 --> 00:34:48,371
and from across the world as well,

427
00:34:48,691 --> 00:34:51,051
saying like, I need to understand better what it is.

428
00:34:51,051 --> 00:35:10,851
And once these people have come here and seen the benefits that we offer and seen that people here are not slaving away in a job that doesn't have any meaning, you see people here happy, having lunch, seeing the amazing view we have to the beach, just meeting people that would not normally be here in the island as well.

429
00:35:11,291 --> 00:35:13,891
It's just a blend of cultures as well.

430
00:35:14,531 --> 00:35:15,971
So I've seen it.

431
00:35:16,351 --> 00:35:20,111
I've seen the perspective of people changing as they come to know us.

432
00:35:20,111 --> 00:35:24,591
and not only know us, but also know the people who work here, the islanders work here. They're

433
00:35:24,591 --> 00:35:30,251
living examples of saying like, hey, this is not what politicians said it was. Like I'm working

434
00:35:30,251 --> 00:35:34,451
here. I feel free. I feel good. I don't feel constrained and I'm earning a good salary.

435
00:35:34,871 --> 00:35:39,191
And then that helps their families. That helps the economy of the island. I think that's one

436
00:35:39,191 --> 00:35:45,251
of the byproducts of us being here is that we are not just here. We are all across the island. We are

437
00:35:45,251 --> 00:35:49,911
going to supermarkets, going to restaurants, going to support any businesses around the island.

438
00:35:50,111 --> 00:35:56,591
And this is basically siphoning more people and more people that would have never been here in the island.

439
00:35:57,171 --> 00:36:00,391
Otherwise, they're coming and they're also spending money across the island.

440
00:36:00,491 --> 00:36:01,411
So that helps a lot.

441
00:36:01,631 --> 00:36:04,731
Have you got Honduran businesses here?

442
00:36:05,271 --> 00:36:05,971
Yeah, absolutely.

443
00:36:05,971 --> 00:36:09,111
So the ones you described earlier, were they?

444
00:36:10,371 --> 00:36:11,011
Those are foreign.

445
00:36:11,491 --> 00:36:11,931
Those are foreign.

446
00:36:12,331 --> 00:36:19,391
So right now, one of my main roles after two years is to start helping startups start up here.

447
00:36:19,391 --> 00:36:23,051
So that's my main focus currently, is bringing the Honduran talent

448
00:36:23,051 --> 00:36:24,851
and mixing it with the rest of the world.

449
00:36:24,851 --> 00:36:28,271
This is the door for globalization that I was hoping for.

450
00:36:28,271 --> 00:36:32,351
And now we're slowly but surely bringing more entrepreneurs

451
00:36:32,351 --> 00:36:35,771
who know better now, that they have a better place.

452
00:36:35,771 --> 00:36:52,141
Instead of going to the US and having to go through hoops that they don understand or just living the country we hosting different events that we call Prospera summits with different emphasis And we been bringing Hondurans and people from across the world that are entrepreneurs as well mingle them together probably mix and match some

453
00:36:52,141 --> 00:36:57,762
ideas, start up new businesses here in Prospera. And they've seen the benefits. They've seen that

454
00:36:57,762 --> 00:37:02,081
it's much easier and they can start operating. And also we have other businesses from Honduras

455
00:37:02,081 --> 00:37:07,121
that said, hey, I want to open like a remote position or something that might be able to

456
00:37:07,121 --> 00:37:13,641
hire people there or just have a service online that could potentially grow faster than it would

457
00:37:13,641 --> 00:37:19,021
if I just do it in the regular Honduran regulation. And presumably in the future, you'll have

458
00:37:19,021 --> 00:37:26,081
businesses actually moving here as in providing food, you know, those kind of businesses.

459
00:37:26,381 --> 00:37:31,401
Yeah, absolutely. So right now, because of the fact that we are still building,

460
00:37:31,842 --> 00:37:36,681
we have this building that again, it's almost at capacity because we've been hiring so many

461
00:37:36,681 --> 00:37:41,242
people so quickly. We have other buildings that are separate from this one that we're going to

462
00:37:41,242 --> 00:37:48,342
start to populate and start moving people around. That means that now in other property that has the

463
00:37:48,342 --> 00:37:52,861
office space, we're going to need a cafeteria for the people who work there. And we already have a

464
00:37:52,861 --> 00:37:58,621
coffee shop that's being installed in that same place. And then in this 13-story building, that's

465
00:37:58,621 --> 00:38:05,842
going to have four floors for businesses to open up their offices and a commercial area on the

466
00:38:05,842 --> 00:38:12,061
bottom for people to just open retail businesses so yes we are creating the spaces not ourselves

467
00:38:12,061 --> 00:38:17,802
but looking for developers who develop this buildings and these spaces for people to start

468
00:38:17,802 --> 00:38:21,381
opening those businesses and it's kind of the chicken in the egg type of situation where

469
00:38:21,381 --> 00:38:26,581
how do you bring businesses to the middle of a jungle and that's just solved by having people

470
00:38:26,581 --> 00:38:30,822
working in the middle of the jungle and then how do you sell houses to people who live in the middle

471
00:38:30,822 --> 00:38:35,302
of the jungle well they have jobs in the middle of the jungle so they need to live close to work

472
00:38:35,302 --> 00:38:38,121
and that's going to bring all the rest of the economy with it.

473
00:38:38,521 --> 00:38:41,001
And I must say, it really is in the middle of the jungle.

474
00:38:41,661 --> 00:38:46,881
We drove here down a fantastically windy road

475
00:38:46,881 --> 00:38:49,341
that's only paved, only the last bit of it's paved

476
00:38:49,341 --> 00:38:52,541
and then you kind of arrive here and you're in a small oasis.

477
00:38:53,221 --> 00:38:54,161
It's really quite impressive.

478
00:38:54,441 --> 00:38:55,921
This is my first time here.

479
00:38:56,322 --> 00:38:59,581
Can you give me an example of a Honduran startup?

480
00:39:01,061 --> 00:39:01,201
Okay.

481
00:39:01,782 --> 00:39:03,802
Or in particular, a successful one

482
00:39:03,802 --> 00:39:05,981
or one that excites you, let's say?

483
00:39:06,921 --> 00:39:07,901
One that excites me.

484
00:39:08,102 --> 00:39:10,081
So, it's many years of working with startups.

485
00:39:10,161 --> 00:39:10,841
I have a bunch of them.

486
00:39:11,521 --> 00:39:12,981
But if I want to talk about startups

487
00:39:12,981 --> 00:39:14,602
that have already come here to Prospera,

488
00:39:14,681 --> 00:39:16,381
let's talk about the health tech.

489
00:39:16,381 --> 00:39:21,161
We held the health tech summit about a month and a half ago,

490
00:39:21,282 --> 00:39:27,221
and we brought several health tech startups here

491
00:39:27,221 --> 00:39:29,941
to learn more about the platform and to see how it could work.

492
00:39:29,941 --> 00:39:40,802
So we have a platform that eventually helps doctors connect with patients that would not necessarily be able to either move around or just think about remote work for doctors.

493
00:39:40,961 --> 00:39:43,361
So a platform where doctors can provide telemedicine.

494
00:39:44,181 --> 00:39:52,701
We have others that are providing not only telemedicine, but are looking for spaces that they can then share clinics with some of the doctors.

495
00:39:52,701 --> 00:39:56,861
We're eventually going to become medical tourists here in the island.

496
00:39:56,861 --> 00:40:03,262
So once we have like the clinics, people are going to say, OK, I want to get out of my place in the U.S. or in the EU.

497
00:40:03,881 --> 00:40:07,881
And I just want to go and relax somewhere else. But I don't want to stop working. I still want to help people.

498
00:40:08,141 --> 00:40:15,081
You're going to have clinics here available for people that are doctors and say, OK, I'm going to stay here in this island for three years.

499
00:40:15,461 --> 00:40:20,021
Sorry, three months. And in those three months, I want to help people from the island or from the mainland or whoever.

500
00:40:20,161 --> 00:40:23,021
And then just set up their practice for three months and get up and leave.

501
00:40:23,021 --> 00:40:29,121
so those spaces are going to be available through these apps from these startups and then you get

502
00:40:29,121 --> 00:40:33,541
the fintech like right now we have a fintech summit coming up november 18th and it's going

503
00:40:33,541 --> 00:40:37,181
to be crazy big like we're expecting people from across the world from across anduras

504
00:40:37,181 --> 00:40:41,701
who are just interested in learning how the financial industry works inside of prospera

505
00:40:41,701 --> 00:40:47,581
because of the ease of regulation that we have can you elaborate on the how the financial system

506
00:40:47,581 --> 00:40:52,841
works within prospera is it very complicated or is that something that you could explain to my

507
00:40:52,841 --> 00:40:58,262
five-year-old son well I would love to see how you explain a financial regulation anywhere in

508
00:40:58,262 --> 00:41:04,322
the world to a five-year-old but well I regulate his finances he kind of understands well that's

509
00:41:04,322 --> 00:41:12,141
good you probably tax him right only a little bit 20% all right that's a little bit for you okay

510
00:41:12,141 --> 00:41:17,981
oh well yeah I'm trying to you know I'm trying to I I'm I fully appreciate that probably

511
00:41:17,981 --> 00:41:23,861
a lot of this stuff is not necessarily really that interesting unless you're heavily into those kind

512
00:41:23,861 --> 00:41:29,001
of things but but i'm sure some people are interested in that like so let's talk about

513
00:41:29,001 --> 00:41:37,381
the governance model or the way pick the your sort of most uh the one you know the most about

514
00:41:37,381 --> 00:41:42,701
the particular aspect of the governance model you know the best about and explain how it's

515
00:41:42,701 --> 00:41:45,621
new, innovative, different, etc.

516
00:41:45,921 --> 00:41:49,802
So I'll just give you the best that Prosper has to offer.

517
00:41:49,881 --> 00:41:53,481
The one thing that makes us different than any other special economic zone in the world

518
00:41:53,481 --> 00:41:56,221
and is the fact that we have regulatory election.

519
00:41:56,921 --> 00:42:00,421
So think about the car factory, right?

520
00:42:00,421 --> 00:42:03,762
So what place in the world does the best cars?

521
00:42:04,161 --> 00:42:05,901
In theory, let's go for German.

522
00:42:06,221 --> 00:42:08,641
Germans are known for good quality vehicles, right?

523
00:42:08,641 --> 00:42:14,201
but let's say germany not doesn't have the most attractive regulation for everything else

524
00:42:14,201 --> 00:42:19,081
business-wise they have a good regulation for car manufacturing but not necessarily taxation

525
00:42:19,081 --> 00:42:24,701
or other regulatory environments for those businesses here in prosper you could open

526
00:42:24,701 --> 00:42:31,881
a car factory and let's say you want to hold yourself accountable for german standards of

527
00:42:31,881 --> 00:42:36,421
car manufacturing you could do that you could come up and say at the moment of registering your

528
00:42:36,421 --> 00:42:43,561
business a i'm gonna be under x y r c industry and i want to select this regulation which is

529
00:42:43,561 --> 00:42:49,802
adopting a better practice that currently exists in honduras and i want to apply this specifics

530
00:42:49,802 --> 00:42:56,302
to what my business is going to be so i can have german standards of production for vehicles but

531
00:42:56,302 --> 00:43:01,381
not be subjected to the rest of the things that might be too constrictive so taxation all those

532
00:43:01,381 --> 00:43:08,441
things you get the best of the germany's regulation for car manufacturing but you don't have none of

533
00:43:08,441 --> 00:43:12,981
the constrictive stuff from one of those type of countries so you can choose up to 24 countries at

534
00:43:12,981 --> 00:43:18,041
the oecd and choose best practices and then apply them here at prosvita this is something that

535
00:43:18,041 --> 00:43:23,102
no other special economics in the world has the fact that you can come up and pick and choose

536
00:43:23,102 --> 00:43:28,721
a best regulation and apply it here while not having to comply with the rest of the things

537
00:43:28,721 --> 00:43:29,501
that might be too constructive.

538
00:43:30,141 --> 00:43:31,941
And enlighten me then,

539
00:43:32,041 --> 00:43:34,861
is that something that's set in stone into the future,

540
00:43:35,221 --> 00:43:36,841
that particular methodology?

541
00:43:37,621 --> 00:43:40,262
Like, say, does that company know

542
00:43:40,262 --> 00:43:44,861
that those rules will be the same in 20 years or 10 years?

543
00:43:44,861 --> 00:43:47,061
Or this framework, let's say,

544
00:43:47,121 --> 00:43:49,102
who decides what the framework is?

545
00:43:49,282 --> 00:43:51,201
And how do you, does it change?

546
00:43:52,021 --> 00:43:54,961
Okay, so whenever you become an e-resident,

547
00:43:55,141 --> 00:43:56,561
a resident, you start up a business

548
00:43:56,561 --> 00:43:59,881
and you find you've signed your agreement of coexistence.

549
00:43:59,941 --> 00:44:02,762
An agreement of coexistence is basically a social contract where you say,

550
00:44:02,921 --> 00:44:07,602
I voluntarily submit myself to this prosperer jurisdiction.

551
00:44:08,081 --> 00:44:10,721
And that becomes sort of an instability agreement.

552
00:44:11,061 --> 00:44:15,341
So once you decide, I want to submit myself to this regulation specifically,

553
00:44:16,102 --> 00:44:22,441
then you're subjected to that jurisdiction, to that specific regulation in perpetuity

554
00:44:22,441 --> 00:44:25,081
until eventually you say, I want to change it.

555
00:44:25,381 --> 00:44:26,401
Because it's also malleable.

556
00:44:26,401 --> 00:44:28,361
You don't have to stick for it forever.

557
00:44:29,041 --> 00:44:31,461
You can even come up with your own regulation.

558
00:44:32,302 --> 00:44:34,262
But who do you go to?

559
00:44:34,782 --> 00:44:40,981
Say I start my car company, and I'm doing it the Mercedes-Benz way.

560
00:44:41,581 --> 00:44:44,961
And then now in 10 years' time, I realize I want to change that.

561
00:44:45,061 --> 00:44:45,701
Who do I go to?

562
00:44:46,221 --> 00:44:47,641
You literally just send us an email.

563
00:44:47,822 --> 00:44:51,921
You can send an email, or our eProspera platform is going to be probably in 10 years,

564
00:44:52,401 --> 00:44:55,581
more than possible to just change these things online.

565
00:44:55,581 --> 00:45:07,341
But as of now, if you want to just change the regulation you are operating under, you just notify the general service provider of Prospera that you're going to be changing that regulation for this other regulation.

566
00:45:07,802 --> 00:45:08,581
But hold on a sec.

567
00:45:09,841 --> 00:45:11,742
That seems a little bit crazy.

568
00:45:12,262 --> 00:45:13,461
I must be misunderstanding.

569
00:45:14,302 --> 00:45:18,581
So there are a preordained set of regulations.

570
00:45:19,421 --> 00:45:19,681
Yes.

571
00:45:20,341 --> 00:45:21,681
Within which you can change.

572
00:45:22,282 --> 00:45:25,102
Or if you I'm talking about they want to change something completely new.

573
00:45:25,102 --> 00:45:27,961
Do they need some kind of agreement?

574
00:45:28,661 --> 00:45:28,782
Right.

575
00:45:29,282 --> 00:45:33,762
So, okay, let's say that you now don't want the Germany regulation for your car manufacturing company.

576
00:45:33,961 --> 00:45:37,641
After 10 years, you know you can do a better regulation that suits your needs.

577
00:45:38,081 --> 00:45:45,821
Okay, what about if actually what you're planning to do, someone thinks is actually a worse version?

578
00:45:46,242 --> 00:45:48,401
Like, who is it that's deciding whether or not?

579
00:45:48,581 --> 00:45:49,622
Okay, let's go to that then.

580
00:45:50,122 --> 00:45:55,941
So the Prospera Council is the first level of review that the regulation would get.

581
00:45:55,941 --> 00:46:08,742
So whenever you're selecting a regulation to apply to your business or to your specific project, the Prospera Council would oversee it with experts, knowledgeable in the matter, and say, yes, this qualifies as a best practice.

582
00:46:09,161 --> 00:46:15,361
So for us, we have up to 24 countries of the OECD that we can choose from, and these are already considered best practices.

583
00:46:15,361 --> 00:46:20,302
because the bar is set at anything that is as good or better than Honduras regulation.

584
00:46:20,881 --> 00:46:21,541
That is the bar.

585
00:46:22,102 --> 00:46:24,061
Anything that is better than that can be approved.

586
00:46:24,421 --> 00:46:27,242
So you can choose from either of the 24 countries of the OECD

587
00:46:27,242 --> 00:46:29,441
that are already considered best practices internationally,

588
00:46:29,441 --> 00:46:32,041
or you can come up and propose your own regulation.

589
00:46:32,041 --> 00:46:34,581
Again, you can go to the example that you already got it

590
00:46:34,581 --> 00:46:36,762
and you have this regulation you want to propose.

591
00:46:37,021 --> 00:46:39,221
You send it to the Council of Prospera.

592
00:46:39,681 --> 00:46:41,561
The Council of Prospera is going to hire the experts necessary

593
00:46:41,561 --> 00:46:44,901
to determine whether this effectively is best practices.

594
00:46:45,361 --> 00:46:56,282
Once that's deemed to be best practices or if it requires an edit, it would be sent back to the applicant and say, hey, you've got to change a few of these things for it to be considered best practices.

595
00:46:56,441 --> 00:47:04,521
Or if you continue with this regulation, we would not be able to approve it because it might be non-constitutional for Honduras or it would be in violation of a treaty.

596
00:47:05,122 --> 00:47:10,501
So then it would go back to the applicant until they hash out something that they believe is best practices.

597
00:47:10,501 --> 00:47:12,341
And then that would be sent to the camp.

598
00:47:12,762 --> 00:47:16,122
The camp is the governmental body that oversees all status.

599
00:47:16,501 --> 00:47:21,061
And they're the ones who, at the end, would have to approve a new regulation to be implemented here.

600
00:47:21,521 --> 00:47:24,661
If it's already been approved here, anybody can use it.

601
00:47:25,021 --> 00:47:29,361
But if it's completely new, then the camp would have to say, okay, yes, this is mispractices.

602
00:47:30,282 --> 00:47:37,961
Is that, I mean, not that I know much about this, but I would assume in the government it works in a similar way, right?

603
00:47:38,141 --> 00:47:41,221
I mean, you know, proposal of regulations, etc.

604
00:47:41,221 --> 00:47:43,742
Yeah, sort of like a congressman proposing a bill.

605
00:47:43,941 --> 00:47:44,181
Right.

606
00:47:44,321 --> 00:47:48,742
So how do you stop that becoming a new bureaucratic nightmare in the future then?

607
00:47:49,262 --> 00:47:52,921
Like, you know, when, yeah, I don't know.

608
00:47:53,081 --> 00:48:04,802
Like, what happens to a place like this, you know, 30, 40 years in the future if people are, you imagine all these incentivized people all trying to get what they want.

609
00:48:05,481 --> 00:48:09,181
Presumably, there's going to be a lot of bureaucracy, I'd imagine.

610
00:48:09,181 --> 00:48:12,161
Is that something that you consider might be a problem?

611
00:48:13,122 --> 00:48:16,901
I'm going to answer this personally, not based on facts because we haven't been there yet.

612
00:48:17,461 --> 00:48:21,141
But would you go ahead and choose something that is quite more complicated

613
00:48:21,141 --> 00:48:23,602
and you know they're going to have to wait for a bit

614
00:48:23,602 --> 00:48:26,602
rather than just choosing a good option that's already there?

615
00:48:26,881 --> 00:48:30,181
Are you talking about me as a car producer or any company?

616
00:48:30,961 --> 00:48:31,802
Sure, yeah, I know.

617
00:48:32,181 --> 00:48:34,321
I want the least bureaucracy.

618
00:48:34,541 --> 00:48:35,661
Yeah, you want the least bureaucracy.

619
00:48:35,661 --> 00:48:43,242
So like in 10 years, again, any regulation that has already been approved for someone else, it is available for anybody else.

620
00:48:43,742 --> 00:48:52,361
So you as a car manufacturing company, you already set the standard that you've already applied the OECD version of German car manufacturing regulation.

621
00:48:52,762 --> 00:49:01,341
If I come up as Ricardo Gonzalez and want to start up a car manufacturing business as well, the quickest thing for me to do is just grab that regulation you already have.

622
00:49:01,802 --> 00:49:03,401
Because I don't need any more approval.

623
00:49:03,861 --> 00:49:04,742
It's already been approved.

624
00:49:04,742 --> 00:49:19,041
So I'll give you a specific case scenario where Seshit Bank, the first native bank in Honduras Prospera, Seshit Bank came up with their regulation by hiring a big team of lawyers and creating their most optimal regulation.

625
00:49:19,421 --> 00:49:24,622
It's called Financial Regulation A. And it's already been approved. It has already been through everything that it had to go.

626
00:49:24,622 --> 00:49:28,221
and it has already been published through the Prosper Gazette.

627
00:49:29,061 --> 00:49:36,001
And that financial regulation can and will be applied to any other bank institution

628
00:49:36,001 --> 00:49:39,681
or financial institution that fits under that specific type of regulation.

629
00:49:40,001 --> 00:49:43,221
And they can just go ahead and say, oh, that's already there. I'll take it.

630
00:49:43,901 --> 00:49:48,141
So the theory of these kind of ZAs then,

631
00:49:48,481 --> 00:49:52,961
if you sort of extrapolate it to a point in the future where they're all over the world, let's say,

632
00:49:52,961 --> 00:49:54,701
Let's imagine they are.

633
00:49:55,102 --> 00:49:59,141
It becomes a competitive governance model that ends up with the best practice.

634
00:49:59,302 --> 00:50:00,762
Is that the theory of it?

635
00:50:00,901 --> 00:50:01,521
So think about it.

636
00:50:01,541 --> 00:50:04,041
So again, let's go to government as a service.

637
00:50:04,681 --> 00:50:08,461
What incentivize a current government anywhere in the world?

638
00:50:09,481 --> 00:50:14,282
Well, yeah, I'm not quite sure because they have a monopoly already.

639
00:50:15,001 --> 00:50:15,481
Exactly.

640
00:50:15,701 --> 00:50:16,401
There's no incentive.

641
00:50:16,762 --> 00:50:18,841
There's no incentive for absolutely nothing else.

642
00:50:18,841 --> 00:50:24,921
And as a president, as a congressman, or as a just government official, it doesn't matter how good you do your job.

643
00:50:24,961 --> 00:50:25,661
There's no bonuses.

644
00:50:26,141 --> 00:50:30,901
There is no salary raises or anything that you're going to get just because of doing a good job.

645
00:50:31,681 --> 00:50:34,602
You also don't get penalized for a bad job on the whole either.

646
00:50:35,321 --> 00:50:38,122
Not as much as you should, but definitely.

647
00:50:38,321 --> 00:50:40,141
So there's no incentive for the regular government.

648
00:50:40,141 --> 00:50:43,401
but this government as a service business model,

649
00:50:43,821 --> 00:50:46,941
the main incentive is that I have the best practices

650
00:50:46,941 --> 00:50:48,661
available for anybody.

651
00:50:49,481 --> 00:50:51,881
And as long as you as a business owner

652
00:50:51,881 --> 00:50:53,641
inside of Prospero are making money,

653
00:50:54,181 --> 00:50:56,841
you're making money that is taxable.

654
00:50:57,361 --> 00:50:59,161
And me as a promoter and organizer

655
00:50:59,161 --> 00:51:01,061
of this government as a service,

656
00:51:01,302 --> 00:51:03,782
I get part of the money that comes out of those taxes.

657
00:51:04,401 --> 00:51:07,481
So my revenue is dependent on your success

658
00:51:07,481 --> 00:51:09,802
and your success depends on my regulation.

659
00:51:10,141 --> 00:51:16,981
So I want to make sure that I have the best regulation and the best regulatory environment possible for your business to be successful.

660
00:51:16,981 --> 00:51:21,381
Because as long as you're successful, me as a government will be successful and profitable.

661
00:51:21,921 --> 00:51:28,481
So that is the main thing that guarantees that we're going to have better practices in general and less bureaucracy.

662
00:51:28,762 --> 00:51:36,041
Because as long as people want to come here and do business and people want to come and buy here because it's profitable for them as well, then everybody's making money.

663
00:51:36,681 --> 00:51:37,821
The government is making money.

664
00:51:37,821 --> 00:51:39,602
and because the government is making money,

665
00:51:39,921 --> 00:51:42,081
the promoter and organizer behind that is also making money.

666
00:51:42,461 --> 00:51:43,262
So everybody gets happy.

667
00:51:43,762 --> 00:51:45,701
Just out of interest, you mentioned earlier

668
00:51:45,701 --> 00:51:51,021
about the political divide causing problems before.

669
00:51:51,481 --> 00:51:54,282
Did the opposing party get into power?

670
00:51:55,001 --> 00:51:55,221
Yes.

671
00:51:55,602 --> 00:51:59,581
And how are they now with regards to ZAs?

672
00:52:00,441 --> 00:52:02,161
Against, completely against.

673
00:52:02,762 --> 00:52:04,541
Again, it was a lot of misinformation.

674
00:52:04,541 --> 00:52:06,421
A lot of people still don't understand how it works.

675
00:52:06,421 --> 00:52:15,401
There's a lot of the word sovereignty being thrown around, and they are in the works of trying to repeal the law, and they've already started to do so.

676
00:52:17,041 --> 00:52:24,341
However, Prospera and any other set in San Andres is already covered by a stability agreement signed with the previous government.

677
00:52:24,341 --> 00:52:31,302
the set of law itself in its second to last article already establishes that in the case of

678
00:52:31,302 --> 00:52:36,521
the repeal of the law it has to guarantee a 10-year transitional period where the acquired

679
00:52:36,521 --> 00:52:43,282
rights have to be respected and then under CAFTA DR and the Kuwait treaties all the investment that

680
00:52:43,282 --> 00:52:48,081
has already been done is protected to up to 50 years so we already have a 50-year umbrella to

681
00:52:48,081 --> 00:52:53,742
keep operating whether the government likes the current setup or not it's something that about

682
00:52:53,742 --> 00:52:59,001
acquire rights that they need to respect. So we're currently on the stage of the dialogue

683
00:52:59,001 --> 00:53:03,981
with the government. So we are still in the point that we need that sit down with the government

684
00:53:03,981 --> 00:53:11,102
to hash it out and say, these are the things that need to be respected. And these are the things

685
00:53:11,102 --> 00:53:16,461
that we're willing to concede for you to feel comfortable as much as possible. So we are

686
00:53:16,461 --> 00:53:22,161
approaching that specific moment in time where the government and the Ceres of Andres, there's three

687
00:53:22,161 --> 00:53:29,602
through CETIS will have this conversation and I am betting that by early or maybe finishing the

688
00:53:29,602 --> 00:53:35,302
first quarter of next year we'll already have a more clear panorama of what CETIS are going to be

689
00:53:35,302 --> 00:53:42,742
going forwards for the next 50 years. Is that by any chance a left-right thing? Is it? And if it is

690
00:53:42,742 --> 00:53:50,961
or not, are you confident that it's something you might be able to make diplomacy over?

691
00:53:50,961 --> 00:53:56,221
So the current schematic is that, yes, there is a left and right, for sure.

692
00:53:56,461 --> 00:53:59,681
We are pro-private property, pro-free market.

693
00:54:00,341 --> 00:54:02,602
So that itself leans towards the right.

694
00:54:03,081 --> 00:54:07,701
And the current government is openly talking about socialism and communism

695
00:54:07,701 --> 00:54:11,421
and befriending the Venezuelan and Cuban governments.

696
00:54:11,821 --> 00:54:16,941
So there is a clear polarization of the Honduran population right now.

697
00:54:17,841 --> 00:54:19,501
People on the left and people on the right.

698
00:54:19,501 --> 00:54:23,661
and this specific setting models are falling on the right side of it.

699
00:54:24,021 --> 00:54:27,441
And that's kind of where things are clashing.

700
00:54:27,642 --> 00:54:28,321
Do you think they do?

701
00:54:28,441 --> 00:54:31,041
I see them quite in the middle, actually.

702
00:54:31,661 --> 00:54:32,401
I see them as a...

703
00:54:32,401 --> 00:54:32,661
Is that it?

704
00:54:32,801 --> 00:54:33,081
Yeah.

705
00:54:33,381 --> 00:54:35,381
They're quite in the middle because at the end of the day,

706
00:54:35,461 --> 00:54:36,721
there's a lot of social protection.

707
00:54:37,221 --> 00:54:37,881
Yeah, that's what I mean.

708
00:54:37,921 --> 00:54:40,242
There's a lot of protection for human rights and private property.

709
00:54:40,782 --> 00:54:42,142
So yes, they kind of fall in the middle,

710
00:54:42,282 --> 00:54:46,581
but the public perception itself is that it's far right, which it's not.

711
00:54:46,581 --> 00:54:48,581
it's just a thing of

712
00:54:49,201 --> 00:54:51,201
misinformation and misconceptions and

713
00:54:51,441 --> 00:54:54,841
But what how confident are you that there will be some

714
00:54:55,501 --> 00:55:12,452
Olive branches to be thrown towards the current government then is it is there a do you see a future in Dialogue is it is it that ideologically opposed So regardless of ideology it a matter of the well of the country

715
00:55:12,452 --> 00:55:26,012
So the full repeal and disrespect of the rights that have been acquired can only be of consequence to the country.

716
00:55:26,012 --> 00:55:32,092
So right now, this is one of the safest laws you could have had invested in anywhere in the world.

717
00:55:32,532 --> 00:55:33,852
It is secure for 50 years.

718
00:55:34,432 --> 00:55:38,432
Like it's a rock solid protection that the setting model has.

719
00:55:39,132 --> 00:55:54,712
What does it say to the world if a government that has a project that was so secured by international law, constitutional law, and even the organic law, and that still gets forgotten and thrown around?

720
00:55:54,712 --> 00:55:57,832
like what does it said to the people from around the world and even in

721
00:55:57,832 --> 00:56:02,852
Honduras is it's a government that doesn't respect its loss so therefore

722
00:56:02,852 --> 00:56:08,232
investment probably and it's already fallen like we can already see a decrease

723
00:56:08,232 --> 00:56:12,052
on foreign investment coming into Honduras because of the legal insecurity

724
00:56:12,052 --> 00:56:17,932
and the atmosphere that this current government is is creating and I think

725
00:56:17,932 --> 00:56:21,832
it's just a matter that this has been such a radical change from what we had

726
00:56:21,832 --> 00:56:26,392
before to what we have now. That's a perception that it creates. I think that it's probably

727
00:56:26,392 --> 00:56:31,272
going to improve through the years once the current government notices that they cannot

728
00:56:31,272 --> 00:56:36,972
be so far opposed to most things that they still have to find a middle ground. So yes,

729
00:56:37,072 --> 00:56:42,092
it's more of a pain for Honduras in regards to receiving that foreign investment and creation

730
00:56:42,092 --> 00:56:45,192
of jobs if they do not respect the property rights acquired.

731
00:56:45,192 --> 00:56:50,712
How about on a more micro level, the community around here?

732
00:56:50,712 --> 00:56:59,052
What's the general sense of what's going on here, rightly or wrongly, and how's the feeling towards it?

733
00:56:59,052 --> 00:57:01,752
I'm sure there's those in favor and those against.

734
00:57:01,752 --> 00:57:04,932
Absolutely. So it depends on who you ask, of course.

735
00:57:04,932 --> 00:57:12,492
As I was mentioning, people who have family members who work here at Prospera or who have been benefited by Prospera

736
00:57:12,492 --> 00:57:15,452
can see that Prospera has never mean no harm.

737
00:57:16,452 --> 00:57:19,012
Of course, you still have detractors and people who don't like it,

738
00:57:19,312 --> 00:57:21,872
and they're just opposed because at some point politicians said,

739
00:57:22,072 --> 00:57:22,812
no, this is wrong.

740
00:57:23,992 --> 00:57:26,232
But then the community right next to us,

741
00:57:26,392 --> 00:57:28,492
that is around 400 to 500 people in there,

742
00:57:29,052 --> 00:57:32,592
I would say that most of it, it's in favor of Prospera.

743
00:57:32,692 --> 00:57:34,512
And again, we are one of the biggest employers.

744
00:57:34,872 --> 00:57:40,852
And one of the biggest fear factors that were created by politicians

745
00:57:40,852 --> 00:57:44,912
during the campaign year was talks about expropriation.

746
00:57:45,732 --> 00:57:51,052
So it's no secret or it's not uncommon for private projects

747
00:57:51,052 --> 00:57:54,052
around the world to expropriate lands for their benefit.

748
00:57:55,092 --> 00:57:57,292
It's not even something strange for Honduras.

749
00:57:57,492 --> 00:57:58,312
It has happened before.

750
00:57:59,492 --> 00:58:03,292
So that was the word that was thrown around quite a bunch,

751
00:58:03,372 --> 00:58:07,792
expropriation, ancestral land being taken over by foreigners

752
00:58:07,792 --> 00:58:08,692
and all these things.

753
00:58:08,692 --> 00:58:13,532
so of course you can imagine that communities around the island who were basically adjacent

754
00:58:13,532 --> 00:58:18,652
to the project feel scared that they might lose their land where they've lived for many generations

755
00:58:18,652 --> 00:58:26,292
and once we tell them like hey we're friendly it was hard to like get on the good sides if

756
00:58:26,292 --> 00:58:32,112
politicians said it every single day that no they're gonna take your land but after a whole

757
00:58:32,112 --> 00:58:36,652
year after the election right now you go to the i can go safely into that community and talk to

758
00:58:36,652 --> 00:58:43,892
people, most of those people have already seen me, know my face. I would feel no hostility towards

759
00:58:43,892 --> 00:58:49,412
myself to just go down there and buy some food or go to a small market down there. A lot of the

760
00:58:49,412 --> 00:58:54,672
misconceptions have been cleared out. Of course, ideologically, some people are still against,

761
00:58:55,272 --> 00:58:59,952
but in regards of what reality is, the people who have been able to approach here and to learn more

762
00:58:59,952 --> 00:59:04,172
by people who have been affected in a positive way by Prospera, because there's no one who has

763
00:59:04,172 --> 00:59:10,992
been negatively affected are now basically becoming ambassadors and spreading the word of

764
00:59:10,992 --> 00:59:16,712
these people are here to do good and nothing bad has happened. And to make matters more secure for

765
00:59:16,712 --> 00:59:25,792
everybody, Prospera's council approved a regulation stating that we would never expropriate nor acquire

766
00:59:25,792 --> 00:59:31,592
land that has ever been expropriated to make sure that the message is loud and clear. Prospera would

767
00:59:31,592 --> 00:59:36,812
never expropriate is against its principles like how could you advocate for private property in its

768
00:59:36,812 --> 00:59:41,092
respect and then you're just expropriating doesn't make any sense it just goes against what pros

769
00:59:41,092 --> 00:59:46,772
beta stands for so we promulgated that regulation stating that we renounce any right we could ever

770
00:59:46,772 --> 00:59:54,112
have of expropriating any land and now it's our job to make sure that we just create jobs create

771
00:59:54,112 --> 01:00:00,452
a better regulatory environment and help the economy of the country i'm cognizant of time here

772
01:00:00,452 --> 01:00:02,892
I saw you looking at your watch.

773
01:00:03,192 --> 01:00:03,812
Oh, no, I haven't.

774
01:00:03,932 --> 01:00:04,692
Okay, sorry.

775
01:00:06,052 --> 01:00:07,872
Okay, because I'm fascinated.

776
01:00:08,112 --> 01:00:09,752
I'd quite like to go on, if that's right.

777
01:00:09,952 --> 01:00:12,672
I can go all day, as Captain America said.

778
01:00:12,852 --> 01:00:14,392
I've got so many questions.

779
01:00:15,072 --> 01:00:20,752
What do you think is the most, the biggest hurdle you have ahead of you

780
01:00:20,752 --> 01:00:23,292
with regards to local communities, say?

781
01:00:24,672 --> 01:00:27,772
Well, to be honest, I think that we are already crossing that hurdle,

782
01:00:27,772 --> 01:00:30,872
And I think the hurdle was public perception.

783
01:00:31,652 --> 01:00:40,592
Like right now, as we are increasingly growing and helping the economy of the island, I think that more and more people are noticing that we've never been here to do any wrong.

784
01:00:41,172 --> 01:00:47,112
As I've told you before, the community right next to us in Crawfish Rock, they are increasingly getting hired by us.

785
01:00:47,692 --> 01:00:54,672
They're getting a lot of benefits from us as well from school buses being provided because you could see like this is a small community.

786
01:00:54,672 --> 01:00:55,772
And you saw the road.

787
01:00:55,852 --> 01:00:57,272
It's a long way to the main road.

788
01:00:57,272 --> 01:01:03,412
And you would see people just leave here with a small SUV crammed with 10 kids that are trying to go to school.

789
01:01:03,892 --> 01:01:14,932
So we have a social program called Prospera Foundation, which essentially is made to help people around the island and catalyze that prosperity that we're already generating inside of here and spreading it around.

790
01:01:15,492 --> 01:01:22,812
So through those efforts, we've provided school buses that go on different times of day to take the kids to school back and forth.

791
01:01:22,812 --> 01:01:29,412
and we're charging a bare minimum to each parents which is probably like around 3.5 dollars

792
01:01:29,412 --> 01:01:37,312
which could be probably around 3.2 euros per kid a month so it's already super cheap like it's

793
01:01:37,312 --> 01:01:41,812
cheaper than ever so we're helping those kids get to school and helping the parents not have to

794
01:01:41,812 --> 01:01:47,212
go through that burden so we're showing how the prosperity we're generating here is leaking out

795
01:01:47,212 --> 01:01:52,512
to the rest of the island that is not just inside of Prospera but everybody else we're buying from

796
01:01:52,512 --> 01:01:57,752
local businesses as much as we can. We are looking for people from across the island to hire them and

797
01:01:57,752 --> 01:02:03,552
give them better job opportunities. And we're also implementing educational programs to help people

798
01:02:03,552 --> 01:02:09,592
learn and achieve the skills they need to eventually apply for jobs here. So that hurdle of public

799
01:02:09,592 --> 01:02:16,252
perception is already being worked on. And I see us in a year probably on a very good standing with

800
01:02:16,252 --> 01:02:20,172
the rest of the community. As of now, even with the municipality, we've been invited by them

801
01:02:20,172 --> 01:02:22,932
to go and offer jobs at the job fair.

802
01:02:23,332 --> 01:02:25,072
So it's already been getting better.

803
01:02:25,872 --> 01:02:27,592
I haven't seen the village myself,

804
01:02:28,432 --> 01:02:36,552
but what do people do normally prior to Prospera being here?

805
01:02:36,552 --> 01:02:42,732
What do most people do in a small road and village?

806
01:02:43,832 --> 01:02:45,452
I would love to tell you more about that.

807
01:02:45,532 --> 01:02:47,272
I think Virginia could answer that question better

808
01:02:47,272 --> 01:02:48,792
since she is from the community.

809
01:02:48,792 --> 01:02:51,812
but this specific community as far as I know

810
01:02:51,812 --> 01:02:53,952
it's more of a fishing village

811
01:02:53,952 --> 01:02:55,932
they survive on fishing and regular

812
01:02:55,932 --> 01:02:56,412
commerce

813
01:02:56,412 --> 01:02:59,572
they go for jobs outside of the village

814
01:02:59,572 --> 01:03:01,752
go into the main part of the islands

815
01:03:01,752 --> 01:03:03,512
but

816
01:03:03,512 --> 01:03:05,532
Virginia would be able to tell you much more about that

817
01:03:05,532 --> 01:03:08,092
Great, we're talking to Virginia after this

818
01:03:08,092 --> 01:03:09,432
so, excellent

819
01:03:09,432 --> 01:03:10,272
Right

820
01:03:10,272 --> 01:03:13,592
I've got

821
01:03:13,592 --> 01:03:15,692
so many questions

822
01:03:15,692 --> 01:03:17,992
that I think

823
01:03:17,992 --> 01:03:25,612
you're noticing I'm not covering here? Because this is a very, very new subject to me.

824
01:03:26,312 --> 01:03:31,112
I think that this is an organic conversation that it's just going anywhere it needs to go.

825
01:03:31,352 --> 01:03:33,652
So I think that as of now, we are going on a good path.

826
01:03:34,012 --> 01:03:34,492
You think so?

827
01:03:34,712 --> 01:03:34,872
Yeah.

828
01:03:35,152 --> 01:03:42,092
Okay, good. Because I'm piecing together my own version of what this is all about.

829
01:03:42,612 --> 01:03:46,092
And I think that's good for the audience, because a lot of people in the audience probably were on

830
01:03:46,092 --> 01:03:50,932
the same standing as you were so hearing it hearing you ask questions they probably already

831
01:03:50,932 --> 01:03:56,632
have it's good for me to just go ahead sure yeah i mean i i would say i come i'm ideologically

832
01:03:56,632 --> 01:04:03,232
aligned with this this is the sort of place i would come from but i'm very interested to know

833
01:04:03,232 --> 01:04:08,092
how this all works out in practice and a few of the things i'm like one of the things that's

834
01:04:08,092 --> 01:04:15,632
standing out to me is it seems like everyone involved is super up for the challenge and

835
01:04:15,632 --> 01:04:25,112
ideologically aligned and wants it to work. If this idea spreads and the idea of ZAs becomes

836
01:04:25,112 --> 01:04:33,472
more ubiquitous, how does it not end up being a victim of its own success in the same way that I

837
01:04:33,472 --> 01:04:41,192
imagine um you know many systems have like what's the what what how do you all right or try this one

838
01:04:41,192 --> 01:04:47,792
how do you see this say in a hundred years if according to what you believe in where where does

839
01:04:47,792 --> 01:04:53,192
this end up like what's what does Honduras and the rest of Central America look like if this

840
01:04:53,192 --> 01:05:02,432
kind of model of self-governance and um you know economic zones if it proceeds in the along the

841
01:05:02,432 --> 01:05:08,172
same trajectory that you feel it would what does it look like it is very hard for me to think

842
01:05:08,172 --> 01:05:14,092
negative negatively about this because as an insider as with and someone who has worked from

843
01:05:14,092 --> 01:05:19,272
the outside for quite a while i see this just as an improvement that is going to keep improving

844
01:05:19,272 --> 01:05:26,992
so in 100 years i could say central america has achieved that development stage quicker than it

845
01:05:26,992 --> 01:05:33,532
could have under this system so increasingly more people are looking into what we're doing here

846
01:05:33,532 --> 01:05:40,752
as a bar of success and say okay i want to keep my eye on that to see how that goes and the way

847
01:05:40,752 --> 01:05:46,052
this is going and say that we already have our final discussions with the government and we're

848
01:05:46,052 --> 01:05:52,552
allowed to operate as is and we continue to grow and expand and do what we're doing here

849
01:05:52,552 --> 01:05:56,592
i believe that more and more countries are going to start doing it themselves

850
01:05:56,592 --> 01:06:03,712
and my expectancy is that the government itself is going to take note and say we need to become

851
01:06:03,712 --> 01:06:09,232
more competitive to the point that the flexibility that the governments have in Central America is

852
01:06:09,232 --> 01:06:18,252
going to become more and more flexible so in 100 years I would expect that better practices are

853
01:06:18,252 --> 01:06:24,592
just implemented and not be jealous of oh it was not made here but rather like if we import everything

854
01:06:24,592 --> 01:06:29,392
from any other country what's the problem with importing good regulation so i think that more

855
01:06:29,392 --> 01:06:37,772
countries are going to adapt to that and have you seen yourself um former expatriate hondurans

856
01:06:37,772 --> 01:06:43,492
hearing about these kind of ideas and coming back is that something that's a thing yes uh as a matter

857
01:06:43,492 --> 01:06:49,032
of fact that as again i'm part of the business development efforts and i get emails every week

858
01:06:49,032 --> 01:06:54,152
like a lot and some of those emails are literally people from the us saying like hey i've been

859
01:06:54,152 --> 01:06:59,852
hearing about Prospera quite a lot and I left because of lack of employment or my husband had

860
01:06:59,852 --> 01:07:06,672
to leave because crime rates were too high no job opportunities and whatnot and we've heard about

861
01:07:06,672 --> 01:07:11,712
Prospera and we're interested in seeing if this is a way back so like I saw it myself and I came

862
01:07:11,712 --> 01:07:17,872
running and as quickly as we're succeeding I am seeing already people saying I want to go there

863
01:07:17,872 --> 01:07:21,552
like I said I don't want to leave like I want to go live in Roatan or I want to come back

864
01:07:21,552 --> 01:07:24,472
and live there in Rolata and at Prospera

865
01:07:24,472 --> 01:07:27,852
because it seems to be like a place where opportunities do exist

866
01:07:27,852 --> 01:07:29,352
and not only in the U.S.

867
01:07:29,352 --> 01:07:32,852
because a lot of people just leave illegally, sadly.

868
01:07:35,372 --> 01:07:40,632
It's very hard on any Honduran to think that most people just leave

869
01:07:40,632 --> 01:07:42,032
because there's no opportunities here.

870
01:07:42,332 --> 01:07:45,292
But it really brightens my day whenever I see people who say,

871
01:07:45,532 --> 01:07:49,532
I'm thinking of going back to Honduras to find an opportunity in Prospera

872
01:07:49,532 --> 01:07:51,392
because that's what we are all about.

873
01:07:51,552 --> 01:07:58,372
And that's the sense of Prospera, a place where people don't have to leave their country to be successful, to be prosper.

874
01:07:58,732 --> 01:08:02,372
And what about the education part of it?

875
01:08:03,592 --> 01:08:11,532
Presumably, if you want to start up here and you want employees, they need to say if you want coders, for example, for your startup.

876
01:08:12,432 --> 01:08:20,532
There's not much of a talent pool, I would imagine, in Honduras of coders yet, let's say, compared to somewhere else, like say America.

877
01:08:20,532 --> 01:08:26,652
so how does the education side of it fit in like do you have to do that yourself here or is that

878
01:08:26,652 --> 01:08:32,612
something that's um you know so it's it's funny you say that because we do have a good amount of

879
01:08:32,612 --> 01:08:38,872
coders in andres and they're pretty good they're pretty good coders um and there's also a bunch of

880
01:08:38,872 --> 01:08:45,352
continued continued education programs that teach people who have already graduated from any xyz or

881
01:08:45,352 --> 01:08:51,152
have never graduated from anything like hey this is how you code we have a lot of continued

882
01:08:51,152 --> 01:08:56,952
education programs that teach coding and we are betting on those we're inviting them in

883
01:08:56,952 --> 01:09:02,832
as a matter of fact literally a week ago we had the edtech summit and some of these

884
01:09:02,832 --> 01:09:08,672
education technology companies are literally bringing people to the island to teach them

885
01:09:08,672 --> 01:09:14,412
how to code and that would eventually open up their doors to work here so we don't want to do

886
01:09:14,412 --> 01:09:19,313
everything like prospera doesn't just want to own every building own every business or own everything

887
01:09:19,313 --> 01:09:25,612
no prospera it's about creating the platform and my memory is killing me right now but someone said

888
01:09:25,612 --> 01:09:30,592
build it and they will come right so that's what we're doing we're creating the platform for people

889
01:09:30,592 --> 01:09:36,732
to say i want to go and do this at prospera so once we designed duna the tower we have here

890
01:09:36,732 --> 01:09:45,212
we had a mainland developer who emailed us once a week asking us hey i want to work with you guys

891
01:09:45,212 --> 01:09:49,132
i want to do something over there i want to build over there what can i do and once we had the

892
01:09:49,132 --> 01:09:53,612
design ready was like here you go do you want it he was like hell yes i want to do this i want to

893
01:09:53,612 --> 01:09:58,112
develop that building for you guys so we started joint venture with him to have that building set

894
01:09:58,112 --> 01:10:04,612
up and that's what we're expecting for all other industries hospitals universities schools we don't

895
01:10:04,612 --> 01:10:08,813
want to own them we want to show people the opportunities there and they can come

896
01:10:08,813 --> 01:10:11,852
and do it themselves and we're gonna make it as easy as possible for them to

897
01:10:11,852 --> 01:10:17,273
set it up so they can become part of that ecosystem and that that is part of

898
01:10:17,273 --> 01:10:24,932
the essence of as they take government model is it it's bottom up yeah so it's

899
01:10:24,932 --> 01:10:31,732
it's a startup city basically we're and the startup managing a city with of

900
01:10:31,732 --> 01:10:38,932
course a lot of experts and and counsel but it is a startup and the city is

901
01:10:38,932 --> 01:10:42,232
starting up itself with the help of other startups and other renowned

902
01:10:42,232 --> 01:10:49,432
companies right I'm getting it I'm getting it straight in my mind thank you

903
01:10:49,432 --> 01:10:58,372
very much I think we do have to stop now yeah I can see people saying five I've

904
01:10:58,372 --> 01:11:02,332
I've got one final question for you, and this is a question that we ask all our guests.

905
01:11:04,032 --> 01:11:06,092
And I'm interested to know what your answer is.

906
01:11:06,292 --> 01:11:08,192
It goes along the lines of something like this.

907
01:11:08,192 --> 01:11:16,472
You have a year sabbatical from your life during which you have a patron who will fund you.

908
01:11:16,912 --> 01:11:20,232
They won't give you the money for your project, but they will make your life.

909
01:11:21,212 --> 01:11:23,872
They will pay for your life and you can do anything you want.

910
01:11:24,172 --> 01:11:25,092
What are you doing that year?

911
01:11:25,092 --> 01:11:32,472
I mean it could be exactly what you're doing now by the way but do you have do you have a

912
01:11:32,472 --> 01:11:39,273
something you would do yeah probably so one of the things that I enjoy the most is essentially

913
01:11:39,273 --> 01:11:46,652
educating I had the ambition to become a college professor sometime and as an attorney most of what

914
01:11:46,652 --> 01:11:52,112
we do is educate clients and one of my biggest passions has been to educate startups and as you

915
01:11:52,112 --> 01:11:57,972
can imagine it's not necessarily the most lucrative endeavor however it's my passion to teach people

916
01:11:57,972 --> 01:12:02,172
how to do things in a way that it can become economically free or at least self-sufficient

917
01:12:02,172 --> 01:12:08,712
or self-employed so if it was up to me and say i have a sponsor that's going to keep me alive for

918
01:12:08,712 --> 01:12:13,052
a year and i don't have to worry about money i would most definitely start conferencing all

919
01:12:13,052 --> 01:12:18,832
across the country helping people say yes it is possible yes you can do it and this is the way

920
01:12:18,832 --> 01:12:23,012
forwards this is how you can start up a business from a legal and business

921
01:12:23,012 --> 01:12:28,612
standpoint right that's that's obviously something that could easily happen here

922
01:12:28,612 --> 01:12:34,773
and probably already it's basically what I'm already doing I'm not giving that

923
01:12:34,773 --> 01:12:38,152
much of conference as much as I would like but yes that's sort of my job right

924
01:12:38,152 --> 01:12:41,552
now it's it's teaching people yes you can do it and you can come over here and

925
01:12:41,552 --> 01:12:46,332
get it done and you have the governance model for it it seems that's quite right

926
01:12:46,332 --> 01:12:56,192
So I think it made a lot of sense for me coming from a startup attorney background to eventually pivot into business development and actually say, I know everything legal inside of Prospera.

927
01:12:56,852 --> 01:12:57,332
Come over.

928
01:12:57,732 --> 01:12:58,572
I'll teach you the ways.

929
01:12:59,632 --> 01:13:00,032
Fantastic.

930
01:13:00,632 --> 01:13:03,092
Well, thank you very much indeed for talking.

931
01:13:03,292 --> 01:13:05,893
I certainly feel a lot wiser for it.

932
01:13:06,932 --> 01:13:07,372
Yeah, great.

933
01:13:07,472 --> 01:13:08,152
Thanks for your time.

934
01:13:08,813 --> 01:13:10,732
I thank you for the time and the space.

935
01:13:10,952 --> 01:13:12,732
Of course, again, this is my passion.

936
01:13:12,832 --> 01:13:13,692
This is what I love to do.

937
01:13:13,692 --> 01:13:17,212
I am available and at your service if you have any questions further in the future.

938
01:13:17,932 --> 01:13:18,972
Great. Thank you.