Thousands flock to Expo 2000
After carnival, it has become the most well attended event of the September Celebrations. News Five’s Jose Sanchez dropped by Expo 2000 to get a taste of what’s new in Belizean business.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
The showcase was organized by the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry and thousands of Belizeans bore the intense heat to see what was going on. What we found was a mixture of traditional exhibitions along with some fresh new faces.
David Esquivel, Managing Partner, Sigertronics
“We’re here to showcase our mostly business, our high-end solution products. What we specialize in is high-end network servers, customized application development, we have the new 2000 payroll system, which is specially written for Belize, called the Soft-Pay Payroll System. We also have systems. We are a certified Microsoft solution provider, which means that we have taken the training required to be recognized by Microsoft as a solution provider.”
Francois Chebat, Director, Office Essentials
“We’re a very new company. We’ve only been open for two weeks now, so people want to know what Office Essentials is about. So, this is just a slight taste of what we have in stock, a lot of computer parts, accessories, monitors, the whole line of office stationery, cellular phone and accessories, office furniture. We also have an entire copy centre as well.”
Marie Sharp, Proprietor, Marie Sharp’s Fine Foods
“We’re showcasing all the products that we have some time ago. We have all the different pepper sauces, we have the mild, the hot, the fiery hot. Now we have a No Wimps, Belizean Heat and Beware, which is the hottest sauce. The Beware, by the way, has won the 1999 highest Scoville Award from the Fiery Food people in Albuquerque, New Mexico.”
As a pepper lover myself I thought about trying some of Sharp’s product. With a name like Beware, I had to try that sauce. Though it burned a lot, they gave me a T-shirt for my pains. With my tongue still suffering from hot sauce, Rudy Burgos from the Audubon Society, busted my brain about birds.
Rudy Burgos, Belize Audubon Society
“Approximately how many species of birds are there in Belize?”
Jose Sanchez
“I don’t know. 400? 4000?”
Rudy Burgos
“No. No. There are about 550 different species of birds in Belize. And in toucans, we have three different types of species, this is the keeled bill toucan, one of many. Now because you almost got it right, we’ll give you a poster. This is a poster of the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary. I hope you visit it one of these days.”
With over 8,000 people at the Landivar gym, attendance at the Expo has increased about 33% over previous years. While this may be good for the businesses, the large numbers may also be responsible for the extreme heat inside the gymnasium.
Jose Sanchez
“Why are you sweating so much?”
Thira Pelayo
“In here is hot.”
Jose Sanchez
“You think you’ll come back next year?”
Shakes head yes.
Over 60 Belizean business exhibited over the two days of Expo 2000.
