2024 M.S.M.E. Economic Roadshow Opens in Orange Walk

BELTRAIDE’s second Micro-Small and Medium Enterprise Roadshow opened this morning in Orange Walk Town. The event aims to give economic support to these businesses to start and keep their operations running. This is key in Belize’s development, since M.S.M.E.s are responsible for as much as seventy percent of our country’s G.D.P. This second roadshow has seen adjustments to the initial one in 2022, according to Executive Director of BELTRAIDE, Doctor Leroy Almendarez, and the inclusion of two more destinations. News Five’s Marion Ali and Darrel Moguel were in Orange Walk Town for the launch and filed this report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Belize currently has roughly two thousand micro, small and medium enterprises that are registered with the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service. And with the launch of BELTRAIDE’s second roadshow today, the organization hopes that this number will increase significantly. Today, the prime minister noted the importance of having these mini businesses in a developing Belize.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“M.S.M.E.s fuel our communities, create jobs, and they drive innovation. They are diverse, ranging from family-owned mom and pop shops, such as what we see from farmers’ daughters to tech startups on service providers to artisans.  They fuel our orange economy most importantly, and listen to this, they contribute to more than 50 percent of G.D.P., approximately 70 percent of employment.”

 

 

 

A major part of the success that these small businesses enjoy is access to financial capital. They can access funding to either get started or to remain open.  International financial institutions, like I.D.B., are key partners in this process. Rocio Medina-Bolivar spoke of relevant ways that I.D.B. has been instrumental to M.S.M.E.s.

 

Rocio Medina-Bolivar, Country Rep., I.D.B

“We have the promotion of digitalization of M.S.M.E.s and governance services, providing digital training to workers and supporting approximately 200 M.S.M.E.s to enhance their business processes inclusively. With our private sector window, I.D.B. lab, we are supporting projects like Let’s Go Belize, which assists M.S.M.E.s in tourism by enhancing their digital presence and leveraging technology to improve their services, or B.C.C.I., that supports the adoptions of digital technologies within M.S.M.E.s with a gender lens. Also, recognizing the importance of global market exposure for M.S.M.E.s, the trade facilitation investment project funded by the I.D.B. empowers local M.S.M.E.s to become exporters, establishing together and supporting the government to establish a single trade window for small and medium exporters.”

 

Tyree Lizama is the owner of Farmers’ Daughters, a small enterprise she opened in 2022 when COVID was wreaking havoc on lives and businesses.

 

Tyree Lizama, Owner, Farmers’ Daughters

“My husband and I, we thought it was a good idea that we come up with some kind of business that we can help our family with. And we were inspired to help our daughters. I have two daughters ages nine and 10 and from this project, we wanted to teach them entrepreneurship. And so we started the, we started first with making cooked beans for businesses in Belize City. And from there we ventured off into making seaweed products. So I started with Bell Trade in 2022. I was one of the winners from the roadshow events. And from the funds that I received, it helped me to buy equipment and further my business.”

 

Executive Director, Dr. Leroy Almendarez explained to us that BELTRAIDE helps entrepreneurs with their businesses from the point of conception.

 

Dr. Leroy Almendarez, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE

“We hold your hand until you let go of ours. And so once you’re registered and you’re working with us and we continue to tell, we continue to say register because there’s so many benefits. I mentioned benefits like economic incentives. If you want to get custom duty or exemptions for products from materials that you need in your business for inputs. Once you’re registered, it’s easier than because you have a tax identification number that you use with customs in order to access or get those exemptions. And so if you, if they find out they’re having challenges, they can always call Bell Trade. In fact, they do. If and don’t be afraid. Someone, we have advisors that cover this country as well.  We start to help you from your conceptualizing. What is it that I want to do? What market do I want to get to? Because that’s another thing. Don’t just go into a market. Know what’s operating within the market. So we collect market intelligence and can guide you and say that market is full. It’s flooded. If you’re going there, it’s going to cost you more and the benefits, the profits have already declined. So start something new. Never be afraid to be a leader so we can provide that market intelligence to you.”

 

Ishmael Quiroz is the Executive Director of the Economic Development Council.  It is government’s official mechanism for dialogue between the public and private sectors.

 

Ishmael Quiroz, Executive Director, Economic Development Council

“One of the things that we champion in addition to innovation is business climate reform, so anything that facilitates being able to do business in Belize, and that includes making it easy for small enterprises to participate in the formal economy.”

 

Marion Ali

And if there are challenges that they’re facing, would you play a role in trying to get them back on track?

 

Ishmael Quiroz

“Absolutely. So one of the functions of the public private desk unit in the office of the prime minister is to bring both public and private sector stakeholders together to identify and deliver solutions to make it easier to do business in Belize. Sometimes that involves digitalization of government services. Other times it means simplification of processes, and sometimes it just requires good communication and standardization of information.”

 

Prime Minister Briceno pledged to make accessing to financing and support systems much easier for small businesses.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“We are committed to building on this momentum of the roadshow through championing access to finance by streamlining loan processes and exploring innovative financing solutions, reducing the burden of regulation by simplifying legislation, policies and procedures that foster a business-friendly environment, promoting buy Belizean by encouraging government procurement from local businesses and empowering consumers to choose Belizean made products, investing in skills development by promoting training programs that equip  M.S.M.E.s with the tools they need to thrive.”

 

The roadshow will travel to Punta Gorda June twenty-seventh to the twenty-ninth.  Marion Ali for News Five.