Citrus Company sold to British; more investments to come

One private sector development that will make the government’s goals significantly easier to realize was officially announced today. That is the sale of the Citrus Company of Belize to Great Britain’s Commonwealth Development Corporation. The ten million U.S. dollar deal is the opening round in what is expected to be a full takeover of the citrus processing industry by C.D.C., including the purchase of rival processor Belize Foods. The C.D.C. expansion into processing — the company already owns a two thousand acre grove in Toledo — is being viewed positively by the citrus industry for several reasons. One is that the two processors were heavily in debt due to several years of low prices and this was seriously hurting their prospects for successful expansion. Secondly, by eventually merging the two rival processors into one company the new well financed entity should be able to operate more efficiently and compete successfully on the highly competitive world market. The C.D.C., an investment company owned by the British government, operates in over fifty countries and has recently expanded its base to include private capital. The C.D.C. is no stranger to Belize as its first investment here was the opening of the Fort George Hotel almost fifty years ago.