Belize's investment doors are open: PM John Briceno

Belize: Prime Minister of Belize John Briceno stated, "investors came from the Caribbean and Central American region and the Czech Republic, Bangladesh, UK, and Algeria engaged in matchmaking sessions with over 52 local companies seeking investments."

"We are planning steadily to capitalize on our country's promise and work to yield the fruits of untapped potential," he added.

The government of Belize issued this statement:

Through the prime minister's office, the Government of Belize organised its 2-day Belize Investment Summit that is also known as (BIS) 2021 in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, on November 10th & 11th, under the theme “BELIZE: OPEN FOR BUSINESS”. The BIS represents a commitment by the administration, through Plan Belize, to foster export-led growth through diversified investments and a robust strategy to make the necessary legal, policy and procedural changes to build investor confidence for foreign & local investments.

The BIS held critical discussions by keynote ministers of government and industry experts on developments and forthcoming opportunities in agriculture, Food Security, Blue Economy, and Civil Aviation and Tourism & Diaspora Relations.

Former Prime Minister of Canada, the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper, the keynote speaker at the summit, congratulated the government on renegotiating its significant external-debt, the Super Bond, replacing it with the Blue Bonds, which provides much-needed financial space to accelerate economic's recovery. PM also commended Belize’s exceptional strengths and potential concerning the nation's multilingual population, British common law, geographic location and abundant natural beauty, diversified resource export base, political stability with a proactive stance in making the necessary policy changes & adaptation. Speaking on investments, Prime Minister John Briceño stated that he is “convinced that if we create initiatives which include access to fiscal and a more seamless enabling mechanism, we can rebuild our own economy with MSMEs at its foundation without compromising economic starts of the larger enterprises.” He also addressed the challenges seen by foreign and local investors, which have made Belize not as competitive as other nations in the region. He indicated that the administration’s response is crucial, with Cabinet focusing on holistically addressing the respective rules, legislations, and policies to improve doing various business in Belize.

Another essential highlight was the awarding of much-required start-up finance to four entrepreneurs with great potential to contribute to the escalation of the market. He acknowledged significant sponsors, the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) through the ICDF, IADB, UNDP.

In Belize Investment Summit, investors from Jamaica, the USA, Mexico, Bangladesh, Canada, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Grenada, Spain, Panama, UK, Algeria participated. They were also the part of the matchmaking sessions with over 52 local companies seeking for investments.

The Government of Belize continues to commit to its mandate of promoting Belize as an investment destination with a plethora of opportunities.