For the last few nights, we've been reporting on the CDB's annual press conference which was held in Barbados on Friday. 7News attended and we've been using the event to give you some regional perspective on regional economies. Belize is one of the economies that showed negative growth in 2016, despite a forecast which said it would grow by 2.7%. But still the Bank president says this country's economy has more resilience and potential that many small islands in the Caribbean. He explained why:..
Dr. William Warren Smith - CDB President
"You're only now scratching the surface of the potential in your tourism industry. My view is that, if there is a Caribbean Country that has the opportunity to really boom in that area it would be Belize, because of the cultural endowment; you know, the cultural history that you have. That I think is one good opportunity for the restart of the economy. As far as the other parts of the economy are concerned, Belize is in a very good position when we look at its energy situation. You have biomass, you have hydropower, you have the ability to buy power from overseas- not overseas, but across the land- from neighboring Mexico. So you have a really very diversified energy sector. And what it does is-there is a linkage to energy and the rest of the economy, to the extent that you can develop that industry- and what it does is it reduces energy costs, it reduces your import bill and puts you in a position where your industries are even more competitive. So my overall view would be that Belize is a good prospect, you are going through a bit of a difficult time but my expectation and my hope certainly is that Belize will emerge stronger from the downturn that you are experiencing at the time."
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