7 News Belize

The Belize Pitch, in A Glossy
posted (December 10, 2018)
Invest Belize: it's the Ministry of Trade and Investment Promotion's premier magazine which they use to court foreign investors. The magazine is produced annually, and today, BELTRAIDE and the Ministry launched the 6th volume under the theme, "Our Green Economy, Your Trade Opportunity".

We stopped by the unveiling ceremony today, and spoke with the Minister and the new Executive Director about this particular theme, and about the companies they highlighted in this edition as examples of the green economy at work:

Hon. Tracy Taegar Panton - Minister of State, Investment, Trade & Commerce
"This year's magazine speaks about the importance of the green economy, and how we can use the green economy to build further economic growth."

Daniel Ortiz, reporter
"Tell us about the companies featured as examples of the green economy?"

Hon. Tracy Taegar Panton
"Well certainly, there are several. ASR, which is one of the main contributors of the magazine, is looking at how they can move away from the slash and burn system. They have a more sustainable way of growing and harvesting sugar, a very important commodity for Belize."

William Neal - Communications & Government Affairs Officer, ASR/BSI
"I think it's important to be featured in the Magazine simply because south of Orange Walk, people know very little about what's happening in the sugar industry. The industry has been there for more than 50 years, but in order to maintain a competitive edge, we have to turn a corner and make sure that we move with technology. And so, mechanical harvesting is one of the things that we're piloting in terms of behavior change projects."

"And so, this magazine also allows us outside of the industry to have the kind of conversations in terms of what needs to be done to make farming and agriculture attractive to young people in particular. It has always been seen as back-breaking work, and with technology, you can use drones. You can use so many other new technologies to actually improve your yields."

Hon. Tracy Taegar Panton
"It's the tool that we used to promote investment in our key economic sectors. That's tourism, obviously, agro-processing, solar energy- green energy, and other agricultural products that continue to be the mainstay's of Belize's economy. We use it a lot in our business hotels, and also ,we use it as a tool when we travel, to speak to potential investors, to look at some of these priority sectors for investment."

Dr. Leroy Almendarez - Executive Director, BELTRAIDE
"I was in Geneva. I took some and didn't take enough because people were so fascinated with the professionalism, but not only that, the different areas of priorities tied into the sustainable development goals that Belize focuses on."

"Because it was produced primarily in house this time, pretty much all members of staff got involved, but there were people who were far more focused in terms of the design, the layout, etc., to get to the point where we are today."

Along with ASR/BSI, this 6th volume of Invest Belize also features contributions from other experts such as the Belize Audubon Society, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, and the Ya'axche Conservation Trust.

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