The advisory council will look for ways to develop better regulations.
The government of Puerto Rico created an advisory council with the objective of stimulating Blockchain's business development on the island.
The movement was announced yesterday during the Blockchain Unbound conference in the city of San Juan. Manuel Laboy Rivera, Secretary of Economic Development and Commerce of Puerto Rico, showed an optimistic tone in his observations on the future perspectives of technology. The council will be composed of a combination of public and private sector representatives, including Laboy Rivera, the government's innovation director and treasury secretary, as well as a mix of entrepreneurs and investors who have moved to Puerto Rico.
Blockchain, said Laboy, "is accelerating economic and social changes around the world and Puerto Rico wants to be part of it."
The creation of the council comes after a series of high-profile Blockchain entrepreneurs and cryptocurrencies followed investor Brock Pierce in his project to establish a kind of "crypto utopia" for the Commonwealth of the United States.
According to Laboy Rivera, Puerto Rico already offers a beneficial place for new businesses, a state of affairs that is driven by the fiscal incentives described in several legislative acts. These include Law 22, which establishes exemptions for individual investors who are residents of the island.
In addition to that, the official said that the government, through the advisory council, will look for ways to develop the best regulations and the best legal framework to support the Blockchain companies. That said, as an associated free state of the United States, Puerto Rico has all the protections granted by the federal government and must also comply with US regulatory frameworks.
Puerto Rico's interest in attracting Blockchain entrepreneurs and investors comes after the island was hit by Hurricane Maria, the tenth strongest Atlantic hurricane recorded.
As such, the government of Puerto Rico wants to diversify its economy, and according to Laboy, officials see Blockchain as a way to do it. And after detailing the government's opening to the industry, the official, pointing out the beautiful landscape and vibrant culture on the island, joked:
But the most important thing is that you will do business on a tropical island. "