CitCo signs sister agreement with Texas city
The Belize City Council has a new sister. News Five’s Jacqueline Godwin explains.
Zenaida Moya, Mayor, Belize City
“I would like to welcome the entire delegation on behalf of myself, the Deputy Mayor, the entire council, all the staff, the management, all the residents of Belize City. And want to tell you this is an honour to be hosting you and we are very much looking forward to it.”
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
At today’s welcome reception for the visiting delegation from McAllen, Texas, Mayor Richard Cortez and members from the McAllen Chamber of Commerce formally established Sister-city relations with the Belize City Council. According to Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya the working relationship will be beneficial for the country.
Zenaida Moya
“We have many industries still in an infancy stage that require investment. This sister city relationship is definitely a means for those who want to chart international courses and invest their monies abroad while bringing economic development to us and earning profits for themselves. … Belize City with its link to Central America, South America, and the Caribbean can surely become an important, international conference and business hub, fostering growth and development with the United States of America through this sister-city relationship.”
According to B.C.C.I.’s Chief Executive Officer Kevin Herrera, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomes the new connection.
Kevin Herrera, C.E.O., Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry
“I am hoping that we can look seriously at those areas in agriculture and agro-processing so that we could try to export more products in those areas, but also tourism I think also has a lot of opportunities and I think the limitations is really our imagination with tourism. I think the more creative people can come and be creative in that sector, the more we will be able to pull tourists to our shores to bring in those precious foreign dollars.”
During the event, Mayor Cortez says his country is planning an intensive marketing campaign to promote Belize in the United States and Canada.
Richard Cortez, Mayor, McAllen City, State of Texas
“We will promote you with our publications and websites. We will host the Texas Tropics Nature Festival visit to Belize. We will promote the Nature Festival trip through printed and national distribution with over two thousand brochures annually. We will promote your city with contacts with all the national travel writers, through trade shows and salesmanships et cetera. We will recommend qualified travel writers and journalists to your city.”
Jacqueline Godwin for News Five.
According to Cortez, with the assistance of businesses in McAllen, his city council annually invests four and a half million dollars promoting their municipality to the rest of the world.
