Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador, announced a plan to offer 5,000 free passports to highly skilled professionals from around the world, promising a significant impact on the country’s future.
What Happened: In a tweet on Friday, Bukele stated that El Salvador is offering 5,000 free passports, equivalent to $5 billion in their passport program, to highly skilled scientists, engineers, doctors, artists, and philosophers from abroad. He emphasized that this represents less than 0.1% of the country’s population, and granting them full citizen status, including voting rights, poses no issue. He also promised 0% taxes and tariffs on moving families and assets, including commercial value items like equipment, software, and intellectual property.
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This move comes in the wake of El Salvador’s recent initiatives to attract foreign investment and talent. Previously, the country’s Congress passed a new migration law that allows expedited citizenship to foreigners who donate Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) to the country’s social and economic development projects, according to a Benzinga report.
Furthermore, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender, as reported in another Benzinga article. Bukele’s latest announcement is seen as a continuation of these efforts to position El Salvador as a global hub for innovation and talent.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin traded 0.22% lower at $$69,344.48, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Photo by Gobierno Danilo Medina on Flickr
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