Investment Minister: Belize must remain stable
And while he was unable to attend the BELTRAIDE launch this morning because of a special Cabinet meeting in Belmopan, Home Affairs Minister Ralph Fonseca still had a lot to say about the investment climate in Belize. In his address, which was read by BELTRAIDE’s Administrative Chairman, Kay Menzies, Fonseca said that the slogan “Making Business Happen” is more than just a catchy corporate phrase. After all, he noted, business is what actually turns the wheels of our economy.
Kay Menzies, Administrative Chair, BELTRAIDE
?The I.M.F. during their recent visit to Belize to conduct an Article Four review, indicated, as reported by the Belize Business Bureau on their consultation meeting, that exports have increased by fifty percent; phenomenal by any standards. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time our country?s history when the cynics and naysayers are shouting above others, we need to pause and appreciate the undeniable fact that our nation?s productivity has developed in leaps and bounds over the last six years. This is so because of unprecedented public and private sector investments made by taking bold decisions in a framework of confidence in our institutions and people.
Our aim is to excel in the quality of all our products. We all have been hard at work to make this happen and we must continue to work even harder. We, of course, mean both the private sector and the Government of Belize in partnership with each other. We cannot afford to fall back. We must work to repair the damage to our economy caused by the irresponsible acts–which should be termed as uncivil disobedience–that Belize has experienced over the past two weeks. We have worked too hard to be weakened by those whose single agenda is without respect for the importance of stability to any marketplace.?
According to Fonseca, one of the greatest competitive advantages of our small and vulnerable economy is that Belize has always offered investors political and economic stability. To maintain the status quo, he called on all parties to work together to maintain investor confidence in Belize to the benefit of everyone.
