Have you ever thought about honing the skills necessary to open and manage your own business that caters to tourists visiting the jewel? The Belize Tourism Board, through the Sustainable Development Program, is offering three training sessions in Belize City, Dangriga and Punta Gorda. Although limited only to twenty-five persons each, the training is intended [...]
Invest Belize Magazine; it is a new publication, the first of its kind that will be published in October of this year. Beltraide partnered with Idea Lab Studios to create a high level business and investment magazine that will be used to promote Belize as an investment destination. The magazine will be distributed internationally, where [...]
In January we told you about an article printed in the Washington Times on a comparative look on Belize and the Cayman Islands. The writer, Dr. Richard Rahn, who is an American Economist, draws conclusions on why Cayman is rich and Belize is poor, although both are small Caribbean countries with similar climate, mixed cultures [...]
A major announcement was made today that was picked up by US networks, such as MSNBC. A US company DHS holding is claiming that franchises such as McDonald’s and high end stores such as Abercrombie & Fitch and Nike will be opening in Belize. The development is called Cenote Falls shopping Centre and is described [...]
Remember the days when five or ten dollars gas in your car would take you a long way? Well, those days are a distant memory because now ten dollars doesn’t even get you a gallon of fuel. Tonight the news is that fuel prices continue to surge. There was another major hike on Wednesday. Premium [...]
There are only few examples when budgets have been delayed. The last time it happened was in 2008 when the U.D.P. assumed office after ten years of P.U.P. rule. After the recent March seventh elections, the PM announced that the 2012 budget would be late even though budget preparations normally begin in October to be [...]
So what is in store in the budget? There is some new and some rehashing of projects. Osorio also told News Five that the construction of a new bridge at the Macal River adjoining the twin towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio, is contemplated as is the completion of the Kendal Bridge. Equally impactful [...]
Last week Friday, the news broke that former Albert area rep and deputy P.U.P. leader, Mark Espat had been called to lead the negotiations on the Superbond. The government announced in a release today, that Prime Minister Dean Barrow, Minister of Finance and Economic Development, chaired the inaugural meeting of the Debt Review team, which [...]
BELTRAIDE believes Belize is one step closer to establishing small business development centers across the country. And with the help of the Organization of American States (OAS) it may be possible. The OAS is including Belize in its five-country pilot project, to expand the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) model to the CARICOM region. A [...]
At the launch of the U.D.P. manifesto last week, Prime Minister Dean Barrow was deliberate in saying that bond holders will have to sit around the table to renegotiate the five hundred and sixty-five million dollar Superbond. The statement has been picked up by Standard and Poor’s, which again lowered Belize credit rating this evening. [...]
As we told you, this evening S&P downgraded Belize’s credit standing. According to Singh, if elected the government intends to re-negotiate the terms of the Superbond to reduce the interest. He also says that the reduced credit rating doesn’t affect Belize at this time. Doug Singh “There’s a mad scramble to buy Belize bonds out [...]
Not much has been publicized about the movement called Belize Can. Its president Patrick Menzies has been very active during the 2011 unrest which was incited by bus owners who felt that restructured road service permits would have crippled their businesses. During the COLA press conference this morning at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza, [...]
The super bond slid into the election campaign when the prime minister announced the date for early general elections. He said he was going back to the people for instructions to do something about the super bond. The result was a prompt downgrade to junk territory of Belize’s credit ratings from agencies such as Standard [...]
There was another hike in fuel prices over the weekend, the second in two weeks. The price increase for premium gasoline was the smallest, going up by five cents to eleven dollars and sixty-three cents. Regular, however, is up eighteen cents and is now selling for eleven dollars and thirty cents per gallon. The biggest [...]
A businessman was also found guilty this morning, but for unpaid general sales tax. Phillip Waight of CSVW Engineering and Construction Company was to appear before Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer on eleven counts of Failure to File GST Returns for the period of December 2010 to October 2011. But Waight was not present this morning [...]
Unemployment is hovering at twenty-three point five percent; that puts a large number of bread winners out of the work force. Meet Bryant Peters, who has discovered that there are opportunities if you can foster an entrepreneurial spirit. Along with a group of other jobless persons, he has started a business. News Five’s Jose Sanchez [...]
Going into the election, the Superbond has become a major issue that both political parties are flogging. A few days ago, Standard and Poor’s, lowered the country credit rating to CCC plus. Tonight, another agency, Moody’s Investors Service lowered the credit rating one notch further into junk territory and there is a possibility that it [...]
With the credit rating at an all time low, what does it mean for investment? Earlier this week, we sat one on one with representatives from the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC. Both Patrick Kilbride and Jose Perales gave us their perspectives on what investors are looking for before they put their put [...]
We start the news tonight with news on the financial front following a downgrade of Belize’s credit rating by Standard and Poor’s. The downgrade came after Prime Minister Dean Barrow said in his election date announcement that he was going back to the electorate to “ask for your clear instructions to drive the naysayers back; [...]
Governors from this region of the Inter-American Development Bank are meeting under tight security at the exclusive Coco Beach Resort in northern San Pedro. According to a report on Belize, crime and violence are getting in the way of progress, negatively impacting the country’s gross domestic product. And while there has been progress, the IDB [...]
There is another story that reflects on the investment climate and that is that the exclusive Pickwick Club has fallen into the hands of receivers. This morning former B.D.F. Colonel, Robert Garcia, was appointed to take-over management of the Club on behalf of Atlantic Bank. Pickwick had taken out a loan of eight and half [...]
The cost of living is one of the biggest factors for voters going into elections. Well, that’s gone up more because to start the work week, drivers were greeted with a hike in prices at the fuel pumps that took effect on Sunday night. Today premium gasoline is selling for eleven dollars and fifty-eight cents, [...]
The Millennium Development Goals are a set of objectives that world leaders committed to achieving over a fifteen year period to improve the lives of the poor. And while the abbreviation MDG is locally known, many Belizeans have no idea if the country is close to achieving those goals by the 2015 deadline. So today, [...]
Turning to other news, on Tuesday the Public Utilities Commission said it had not received any objections to the proposed six point one-four percent reduction in electricity rates that it announced earlier in the month. Well today, B.E.L. stepped in line and announced that the P.U.C. is not to expect any objections, but it wants [...]
The Public Utilities Commission announced a reduction in electricity rates of six point one-four percent on January twelfth; that won’t be final until the end of the month. But this morning, another pre-election gift was formally announced. It’s a reduction in water rates despite a two point two million dollar loss to the government controlled [...]
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