For the next 3 days, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, BELTRAIDE, will be meeting with the Belize American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, and potential international investors who are looking to do business in Belize.
The Belize American Chamber of Commerce of Florida comprises Belizean Americans who want to contribute to the country's economic development. It was formed 4 year ago, and they've been vetting entrepreneurs out of Florida, who would like to inject foreign direct investment in Belize.
So, the Belize American Chamber of Commerce is acting sort of like the matchmakers, pointing these business owners to the right authorities in Belize to bring potential investments closer to becoming reality.
It's all a part of the Broward-bound Belize Trade Mission, and today, the local and American trade officials met for the first of the 4-day round-table session, and 7News stopped by. We got a chance to speak with a few of the leading personalities of the Belize American Chamber of Commerce of Florida. Here's what they had to tell us:
Michael Devin Young - Executive Director, BACC Florida
"It's a bridge, and as Belizeans, and as patriots, our way of giving back is since we're based on US soil, we create opportunities for those who are seriously interested in doing business with Belize. We vet them. We make sure that they're real, they're serious, they have the 'paper'. And we hold their hands; we create a clear path and a streamline to the powers that be in Belize. So, we are able to function with stakeholders and the local partners in country. So, we cannot perform; we cannot get the right people to the bargaining table without such as BELTRAIDE, BCCI, and of course now the US Embassy, and their Economic Department. So, that's what we do. We hold their hands for any real potential investment into the country to also create jobs and so forth."
Rishma D Ekhert - General Counsel, BACC Florida
"Our Chamber is specifically designed to increase FDI, which is foreign direct investments, and basically help the economy of Belize. So, our membership are corporate membership, and companies that are actually interested in investing in Belize, as Michael said, and we are able to vet them, and get them into the country, make sure they're legitimate, and also, we want to make sure that on the other side of it, that we preserve the reputation that Belize has as investment-worthy."
Mchael Devin Young
"We also have here participating, like said, BELTRAIDE, as the executing agency for investments for Belize, our big sister chamber partner organization, BCCI, and the US Embassy, and their Economic Development, but also the City Council."
Rishma D Ekhert
"Another big part of who's here right now are people who are actually willing to invest in Belize. They see the potential in investing in Belize, and they want to make sure that they're doing it the right way. This is why they are here today, and that they're here to get the guidance that they need. We both reside in Florida, and come across, everyday, people who are so interested in reaching out to our market, and reaching out to the Caribbean market, but they have no idea how to do that. So, we're able, as Michael said, to create that bridge, where people know where to go, and streamline them into the different organizations that may be able to help them."
Mchael Devin Young
"The three pillars that we actually stand on is agriculture, tourism investment, and renewable energy. So, we narrowed it down to those 3 pillars, because we know usually the serious investments that actually would be able to help to create jobs and help to progress the country and move fall under one of those pillars, one of those categories."
The Belize American Chamber of Commerce of Florida will also be participating in the Chamber's Annual's Belize Expo and Marketplace, which takes place tomorrow and Sunday.
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