A poorly-worded marketing effort – a blunder – by Kleindienst Group claiming UAE real estate investors could be given a Moldova passport as a ‘package deal’ of sorts, attracted a massive influx of criticism from different interest groups.
The Brexiteers, the nationalist parties throughout Europe and the widely uninformed public who have an imprecise idea of what the investment migration industry actually offers.
The Daily Mail has recently published a brow-raising article about how Dubai Real Estate investors can get “backdoor” access to Europe for FREE. Scandalous! Outright terrifying actually, if you think of the impact a scheme like this could have on the security of Europe.
Media outlets have depicted the UAE real estate developer, Kleindienst Group, as dubious agents luring in investors who spend over a GBP 1 million on a luxury Dubai property and then are handed over the keys along with a goody bag that holds their shiny new Moldova passport.
Yet, before you crawl further down the rabbit hole of fear and scaremongering that these types of news articles incite, we invite you to pause and re-assess the facts.
What is the Moldova Citizenship Programme
The Moldova government promises a fast-processing time of 3 months to review, vet and approve applications. Investors who pass the four-tier screening process must also invest EUR 100,000 in a non-refundable contribution to the Public Investment Fund.
Moldova has strong ties with Europe, Russia, and the Far East due to its history and strategic geopolitical position and offers its citizens visa-free access to 122 countries, including the Schengen Area, Turkey, and Russia.
Was this A Marketing Blunder by Kleindienst Group?
To the extent that it was attention grabbing and gave rise to a wave of PR coverage from the Times to Forbes, NO. It likely raised the visibility of the ‘Heart of Europe’ development in the UAE and increased inquiries from real estate investors for Kleindienst.
Yet to the extent it wasn’t thorough or accurate, YES this was a detrimental marketing blunder that had a powerful ripple effect. Kleindienst’s messaging failed to address exactly how investors in their deluxe Dubai real estate project ‘The Heart of Europe’ would go about obtaining the Moldova passport.
They omitted outlining the steps involved, whether the investors would in fact be eligible, exactly what criteria is required and the due diligence process that the Moldova government would subject them to prior to granting any passports.
This poorly-worded marketing effort attracted a massive influx of criticism from an array of different interest groups. The Brexiteers, the nationalist parties throughout Europe and the widely uninformed public who have an imprecise idea of what the investment migration industry actually offers.
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Knock Knock? Who is at Number 10?
All Brexiteers jumped on the bandwagon of criticism, attacking the investment migration industry, referring in a derogatory tone to the ‘citizenship for sale’ schemes and using the tasteless ad by Kleindienst Group as their weapon.
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At this critical time there is a power vacuum in the United Kingdom as the race to fill Ms May’s leopard print shoes as Prime Minister continues.
Therefore, news of this caliber was perfectly timed to validate why Brexit is the answer to the societal and security threats that staying in the EU would pose to the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
Supporters of Brexit and proponents of a “no-deal solution”, if ever there was a misnomer, swooped in and devoured this viral marketing blunder. The Kleindienst ad was used to argue that UAE investors could now automatically get access to the EU via Moldova, currently in an association agreement with Europe with a view to becoming an EU candidate in the near future.
This could not be further from the truth, as all investors, even those who are drawn in by this ad, would still need to be vetted by a Four-Tier Due Diligence that requires background checks and verification checks from Interpol, SIS, MAI etc.…
In 2016, immigration and the recovery of sovereignty were the leading themes behind the Brexit campaign, so understandably they have now used this bait and milked what they could to justify the chaos that has ensued in the 3 years of #Brexit negotiations.
Kleindeist Blunder proves how delicate Misinformation in the Age of Information is
As for Europe, it held elections in May and there was a power struggle between those seeking integration and those pushing for nationalism using an ‘anti-migration’ rhetoric to secure more votes and following. Regrettably PR nuisances such as this Kleindienst fiasco taint the honourable efforts from lead figures in the investment migration industry who are spearheading efforts to educate the MEPs on the work they undertake.
Extensive top-level discussions have been held by the Investment Migration Council with the European Commission, the European Parliamentary Research Service and Member State Permanent Representations.
As Mr L’Ecuyer recently reported to IMI on his latest interactions with the European policy makers, “There is an information gap and somebody needs to fill it or create a bridge between the policymakers and the industry”, it is clear that there is a widespread epidemic of misinformation.
Other leaders in the industry such as Arton Capital and Henley & Partners have also been fronting efforts to enlighten the wider public on the positive impact that foreign investment through CBI programmes can bring for the host economies and societies.
Earlier this month, the Second Citizenship by Investment Due Diligence Conference organised by the Malta Individual Investor Programme Agency reinforced the commitment of the industry towards implementing veritable and thorough due diligence in their vetting process.
The wider public, affiliated sectors and government bodies should also be integrated into these conferences to increase awareness of the steps that are being taken by the industry to ensure order, procedure and security.
