Trade between Belize and Guatemala formalized

Belize and Guatemala have been trading informally for years, but today trade was formalized with the signing of a partial scope agreement that had been languishing before the Guatemalan congress for years. The agreement was first introduced in 2004, in the days of the Musa and Berger administrations. It was completed the following year and signed by Belize in 2006. It was finally ratified by the Guatemalan congress on Thursday. According to Deputy Director of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, Orla Coleman, the agreement can bring many opportunities for the neighboring countries.

Orla Kantun Coleman, Deputy Dir., Min. of Foreign Trade
“For the productive sector in particular we had managed to get some market access into Guatemala with respect to some key products such as citrus, tilapia cattle, black beans, red beans, poultry and pepper sauce. So what this means is that our producers from Belize can export to Guatemala and the tariffs that are prevailing or that normally prevail on these products will be reduced for the products that are coming from Belize. And of course, any producer or exporter will tell you that this is beneficial for us because if you pay less tariffs it means you can take home more money at the end of the day. In terms of investment there are many opportunities. The matter now will be to see how Belizean investors can seize the opportunity and make the most of it. You have the list of goods on both sides and it’s for whoever wants to get into the business of importing or exporting from this range of products that can be used that would be able to benefit from the agreement. Of course, the same with investor, if you have an idea and if you have the finances available to carry out the idea and you want to link up with Guatemalan investors then it’s there for you.”