B.C.C.I. launches business in Belize video
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry is attempting to enhance its international profile, particularly with potential trading partners in the region. Today, it released a new video, which can be used at trade expositions and as a marketing tool by its members. The fifteen-minute documentary uses the beauty of Belize as its backdrop to try and convince investors, trading partners, and buyers abroad that there are great benefits to doing “Business in Paradise.”
Arturo Vasquez, President, B.C.C.I.
“The Chamber has done much work that we are proud of in areas such as lobbying efforts to decrease cost of production for the agro-productive sector, which is still underway, as well as our efforts towards tax reform and towards lowering taxes as a member of the tax reform committee. These efforts are in line with finding the solutions that will lead ultimately to reduce cost and therefore improve production, which drives us toward being ready for greater exports. In the meantime however, we at the Chamber must make some interim inroads or recommendations. Today’s event is one of those.”
Godfrey Smith, Min. of Foreign Trade
“The central message my friends this afternoon is that we are facing an extremely growingly competitive international market and to remain in that market we’re gonna have to go through a lot of changes locally. Those in the sugar industry will have to get on top of the core sampling issue that has been talked about for a long time but no action done. Certainly in the citrus industry, they have taken on some new strides with that. And the citrus industry for instance is one place where they applaud the partial scope agreement. They claim that if it goes according to plan, with the value added products they will be able to get into Guatemala and the Central American market should boost revenues for them over the next three to four years by ten million dollars. There’s a lot of work to do, I think we have to keep objective, open minds, stay focus on the events happening around us and work in close collaboration with the government to be able to put our local businesses, our local individuals and entrepreneurs in a position to be able add value to their current product, more finished products, so that we can access not only regional markets, but markets beyond.”
“Business in Paradise” is part of the Commercial Linkages Project in effect between Belize and Guatemala. Funding comes through the project, DFID, and the British High Commission.
