Mexicans flooding the free zone for Christmas
While the government’s campaign to keep Belizean dollars at home seems to be working with thousands shopping in Belize City and district towns this Christmas, our northern neighbors also seem to be Buying Belizean, at the Commercial Free Zone in Corozal. Today News Five took a quick run up to the border to see the buying frenzy for ourselves.
They come by car, by taxi and on foot. Four thousand vehicles each day carrying perhaps fifteen thousand shoppers… At times it seems that the whole of Chetumal must be in the Corozal Free Zone. And what do they buy? High quality gasoline at duty free prices, name brand clothes, perfumes and virtually anything that can be imported from abroad. That the free zone is doing business, big business, is not up for debate. What has been up in the air is the direction in which the zone may be moving. A recent amendment to the free zone legislation has for the first time imposed some taxation on zone businesses… and in a move that many observers found unthinkable a government Minister Florencio Marin, has resigned his seat in Cabinet to take the job as Chairman of the Free Zone Management Agency.
Florencio Marin, Chairman, Free Zone Management Agency
“I like challenges and the way I have looked at the zone it has vast potential for the creation of jobs for this district. This is one of the most depressed districts.”
But depressed or not, how will Marin deal with a government policy which seems to be at odds with the vision of the people doing business in the zone?
Florencio Marin
“I am committed to implement government’s policy but on the long term I have appointed a planning committee. I expect that between now and the end of March of next year they will make a review of all the things affecting the free zone with a view to improving legislation and even the tax that you have mentioned, that it will be subject to review.”
Edmund Longsworth, who has been involved with the zone from its inception, feels that the hot rhetoric of the past needs to cool off.
Edmund Longsworth, President, Free Zone Business Assoc.
“I believe with the participation now of an authority personnel from the government or on behalf of the government, I think we will be able, and I have every confidence, that we will be able to dialogue in the not so distant future. Government is going to see the benefits of this zone and I pray that they give it a fair chance and don’t kill the goose that is laying the golden egg.”
But in recent months that golden egg seems to be threatened more by irate Mexican business interests than by anyone in the government of Belize. Instigated by the Chetumal Chamber of Commerce the Mexican press has launched an all out attack on the zone and its ability to lure Mexican shoppers across the border. Francis Gegg, the Management Agency’s CEO for the last fourteen months, has been the man in the hot seat.
Francis Gegg, CEO, Free Zone Management Agency
“I’ve tried to make it clear to them that this is an international place of business and if they want to bring their business to this free zone they are more than welcome and actually many Mexicans are now investing in the zone.
So we’re seeing those who are rather than complaining and griping, they’re just being proactive and they’re just coming in and we’re welcoming them with open arms. They are creating jobs for Belizeans and they are making money in that process.
I believe that the Mexican government recognizes the right of the Mexican people to spend their dollars where they see fit and I believe the Mexican government will uphold those rights.”
And there is a lot riding on that belief. While many early zone operations looked “poco tiempo” to say the least, the current coop of investors seems more substantial. Plenty of construction is in progress and Gegg claims that over seven hundred people are permanently employed by the zone’s hundred or so businesses. But those numbers do not come without cost. Some economists see the zone as a huge drain on our foreign reserves, as well as a haven for smugglers.
Francis Gegg
“Stewart, we have six gentlemen that constantly patrol the zone at night trying to keep our fences intact. The Management Agency now has forty employees, there were eight when I took over. Thirty of those employees are involved in security of the gate and security of the parameter. But we still do not have the resources and it is really not our responsibility. It is the responsibility of Customs. And this is an issue where I have actually addressed with the Prime Minister seeking help, that Customs be beefed up, put more people in the Customs staff, in particular in vigilance around the zone.”
And just as contraband seems to find its way out of the zone the fence has also had little effect on movement in the opposite direction.
Stewart Krohn
“Although the vast majority of shoppers in the Free Zone are undoubtedly Mexican, today I saw enough familiar faces to make me realize that there are plenty of Belizeans on to a good, if illegal, thing in the free zone.”
Francis Gegg
“Well, it’s a constant battle for myself and my security staff Stewart because behind these fences is the forbidden fruit, you know, the Adam and Eve story. Everything back here is perceived as being better and cheaper and of course the Belizean people want to access it and many feel resent that Mexicans can come in and they can’t.”
And so it stands — a rough and tumble stretch of limestone with limitless potential and an equally vexatious set of problems. But for now all the acrimony of the past is forgotten amidst the jingle of Christmas cash. Reporting from the Corozal Free Zone, Stewart Krohn for News Five.
There are rumors in Chetumal that the Chamber of Commerce there plans to stage a demonstration on Friday to block access to the free zone from Mexico.
