Belmopan, November 16, 2021. The Government of Belize, through the Office of the Prime Minister, held its two-day Belize Investment Summit (BIS) 2021 in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, on November 10 & 11, under the theme “BELIZE: OPEN FOR BUSINESS”. The BIS represents a commitment by the government, through Plan Belize, to foster export-led growth through diversified investments and with a robust strategy to make the necessary legal, policy and procedural changes, to build investor confidence, for foreign and local investments.
The BIS featured key discussions by ministers of government and industry experts on developments and opportunities in sectors such as Agriculture, Food Security, Blue Economy, and Civil Aviation and Tourism & Diaspora Relations.
Former Prime Minister of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, keynote speaker at the summit, congratulated the government on renegotiating its major external debt, the Super Bond, replacing it with the Blue Bonds which provides much-needed fiscal space to accelerate economic recovery. He also commended Belize’s exceptional strengths and potential in relation to our multilingual population, British common law, geographic location, abundant natural beauty, diversified resource export base, political stability, and proactive stance in making the necessary policy changes and adaptation.
Speaking on investments, Prime Minister Briceño
stated that he is “convinced that if we create initiatives which include access to finance and a more seamless enabling mechanism, we can rebuild our economy with MSMEs at its foundation without compromising economic initiatives of the larger enterprises.” He also addressed the challenges faced by foreign and local investors, which have made Belize not as competitive as other countries in the region. He indicated that the government’s response is crucial with Cabinet focusing on holistically addressing the rules, legislations, and policies to improve doing business in Belize.
Another important highlight was the awarding of much-needed start-up finance to four entrepreneurs, with great potential to contribute to market expansion. We must also say thank you, to our major sponsors, the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) through the ICDF, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
The Belize Investment Summit had the participation of investors from Jamaica, USA, Czech Republic, Mexico, Bangladesh, Canada, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Grenada, Spain, Panama, UK, Algeria and Belize, who were a part of the matchmaking sessions with over 52 local companies seeking investments.
The Government of Belize remains committed to its mandate of promoting Belize as an investment destination with a plethora of opportunities.
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