Caribbean Export OUTLOOK 3rd Edition

Pulse of the Caribbean 20

to the Belize Tourism Board. Over the recent years, to help with the steady increase of overnight tourists (3% annual growth), the Government of Belize has secured several new airline routes, which connects Belize to over sixteen cosmopolitan cities. As more people begin to explore Belize, additional investments are required in the areas of accommodations and hospitality services to fulfill the country’s vibrant niche tourism market. Notably, Belize has received international recognition as a tourist destination and recently won multiple “World Travel Awards” for Ambergris Caye and Placencia, the country’s two key tourist destinations. In addition, the New York Times named Belize one of its “must visit” locations in 2017, while the Financial Times, through its fDi Magazine, awarded “Best Tourism Location of the Future 2017/2018” ; with distinctions in “Best Investment Awards - Hotels” , “Best Enhanced Airlift” , and “Best Sustainable Strategy” . Apart from the right recipe for leisure and tourism investment, there exists a myriad of opportunities within Agribusiness. The Sugar and Banana industries easily remain Belize’s highest foreign exchange export earners at US$222.80 million, while citrus, which is Belize’s third largest foreign exchange earner, saw recent declines in the world market. Even with the low world market prices on sugar, and unlike other sugar-producing states in the

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in which the cane sugar industry is in general decline, since 2007, the Belize sugar industry has remained stable benefiting from approximately US$181 million in investments in areas of infrastructure, equipment and processing, including value- added production (molasses, syrups, etc.), and generation of renewable energy. However, the Government of Belize (GOB) continues to advocate and promote a branded CARICOM Sugar to ensure that this industry remains vibrant and competitive. The Belizean economy continues to diversify, with Belizean companies exporting of non-traditional products, such as ice cream and beans, to new markets within CARICOM. It is expected that Belizean-CARICOM exports will continue to increase and diversity, with the country’s poultry and Poultry industry having met all the exportation requirements for the region. Poultry exports, in particular, will commence shortly to Trinidad & Tobago and in the Eastern Caribbean States. Other note-worthy export diversification includes the Cattle and Industrial Hemp industries. The former industry is working assiduously to meet the export requirements for CARICOM, Central America, and Mexico. While Belize is fastidiously developing regulations for its nascent Industrial Hemp industry, it has also been broadening its

San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, Belize

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