INDEPENDENCE
4. A 1979 Bermuda Government White Paper concluded that it would be wrong to move to independence 'without a clear indication
that a majority of Bermudians supported it'. There is currently no great enthusiasm for independence and it was not an election issue. The Government is presently committed to no more than a continued monitoring of public opinion on the subject.
ECONOMY
With GDP at
5. The economy goes from strength to strength. around $600 million and per capita income thus over $10,000, Bermuda is among the world's ten wealthiest countries. Tourism
and off-shore insurance business continue to flourish and expand.
DEFENCE
6.
Premier Gibbons intends to pursue with the new US Administration, at a suitable moment, talks he had with their predecessors about
the defence arrangements of an independent Bermuda at some future
date. It is logical that Bermuda's future orientation in this
respect (and in the economic field) should be towards the US
but the two Governments have yet to work out whether the
relationship should be on a bilateral or NATO basis.
BILATERAL ISSUES
Bermuda
7. Two thorny bilateral problems were resolved in 1980.
eventually accepted a group of Vietnamese refugees following
a rescue in the South China Sea by a Bermuda registered vessel.
Adjustments were made to the Bermuda Register to avoid a
repetition. In August the Bermuda Government finally settled the
MOD bill for the 1977 reinforcement operation. The Bermuda Government made various representations at Ministerial and official level in 1980 about the proposed UK Nationality Law, pointing out its implications for their immigration policy. was made towards a mutual understanding of problems but the subject remains of major concern to both Government and Opposition on
the island.
Progress
19 February 1981
J B Noss
West Indian and Atlantic Department G125/3
CONFIDENTIAL
233 4196