101st A.G.M. for Chamber of Commerce

Kim Aikman

The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry held its hundred and first annual general meeting on Thursday night to a virtual audience.  Despite the physical presence of its membership, the meeting was spirited and a number of issues were raised.  According to Chief Executive Officer Kim Aikman, a full recap of 2020 was provided by B.C.C.I. President Marissa Longsworth.  The keynote address was given by Prime Minister John Briceño.

Kim Aikman, C.E.O., B.C.C.I.

“Last night the Chamber celebrated its hundred and one years of existence in Belize.  We were formed in 1920 and last night was kind of bittersweet because we would have wanted to have a room full of people but due to the pandemic we had to go virtual and so we’ve had to learn how to do virtual things.  But it was good because people from all over, our members who would not have been able to come were here.  We had a presentation from our president who gave a recap of the year 2020.  It was not a normal year, as you know, we’ve had to learn to adopt and adjust and she highlighted the fact that the chamber approached and attempted to do a prime ministerial debate and it wasn’t lost on her that although the podium said prime ministerial debate, there were two empty podiums and so she recapped that and all our achievements.  The fact that we signed a joint declaration with the social partners of Belize to advocate for good governance.  So that was her presentation mostly.  The keynote speaker was the Prime Minister of Belize.  The Chamber wanted to hear from him what his government’s plans were to move Belize forward given the current environment and we asked him to talk about productivity in particular, how we can enhance productivity in Belize.”