P.M. Gives EDC Members Credit for Legislation

Dean Barrow

Accusing the Leader of the Opposition in particular and the Opposition generally of ignorance of the role of the Council, Prime Minister Dean Barrow gave them credit for several of the bills introduced in the House earlier this year and debated today, as well as being supported internally and externally as Belize positions itself to benefit from both foreign and local investment.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“Not only has the EDC been in place, it has been working extremely well. Of course, it is not that everything that it has grappled with has met with success, and the relationship between the private sector members of the EDC and the public sector members of the EDC took some getting used to; took some working out. But by and large, the private sector members of the EDC – for certain they are extremely pleased with the fact of the existence of the Economic Development Council, they are fully on board in terms of enshrining this into law and making this now a permanent feature of our land scape. Madam Speaker, on our agenda today there are a number of bills which have come to this House, which have their genesis in that same Economic Development Council. The packaging bill is as a result of the work of the Economic Development Council; the amendments to the Building Act are as a result of the Economic Development Council; the amendments to the Trade Licensing Act – all of these initiatives come from the Economic Development Council! (Applause; Interruption) Why we are putting it into law – it’s a good thing in and of itself; somebody asked, will this help with foreign investment? Listen, this is an initiative supported, certainly, by the IFI’s. in fact, you are talking about there will be additional cost to Government; no, because the C.E.O. is already in place, being paid for, I believe, by the I.D.B. The I.F.I.’s are four-square behind the Economic Development Council; and there is no new expenditure, there are no new expenses, because this thing has been operating.”