Just as countries rich in natural resources see other activities crowded out, the success of the finance industry in the Channel Islands has stopped others from sprouting.
Adrian Guille, president of Sark's Constitutional Steering Committee, said the General Purpose and Finance Committee already liaised between the two islands.
Interestingly, an incident of this sort occurred near the end of last year when Prime Minister Kaifu made public reference to a possible assistance-for-islands deal with the USSR only to have the notion walked back by the Ministries of Finance and Foreign Affairs.