A workshop on the branding of Belizean products exported to international markets

A two-day workshop began today at the Radisson Fort George in Belize City. It focuses on branding the Belizean products that are exported to various markets around the world. Dubbed the Belize Export and Origin Consortia Workshop, the Caribbean Development Bank in partnership with the Belize Coalition of Service Providers has organized the initiative to assist service and product manufacturers and providers in sectors of tourism, agriculture and other goods to explore the possibility of exporting collectively. The idea is to see various organizations within a particular industry to share techniques and contacts in order to meet the demands, quality and standards of international markets. And so today, stakeholders gathered for a crash course addressing the benefits of grouping firms for export using the methodology of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. The workshop is part of the United Kingdom’s development support initiative to CARICOM states.

Grace Chun, UK Deputy High Commissioner to Belize

Grace Chun

“It focuses on fostering economic growth and job creation. The expected results include helping the private sector enter new markets, creating jobs and implementing business environment reforms to cut red tape and to facilitate investment.  It’s an organization of several businesses or banks joining together as a group for a shared purpose. Your shared purpose is to bring the three CARTFund projects together to find joint solutions to the challenges and constraints that they face, overcoming the barriers preventing small firms and producers entering global and particularly EU markets is the core of what the UK is seeking to achieve through the CARTFund. As Henry ford once said, coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress, but working together is success. So I hope that this CARTFund event provides the opportunity that you need to drive forward the creation of export consortia to help businesses in Belize compete and win in the global market.”