Has the buzz around the Port of Magical Belize fizzled out?

Is there still any interest from Boskalis and Royal Caribbean in investing in the Port of Magical Belize after the political mess with the Definitive Agreement? Minister Coye, reading from a prepared statement, stressed that there has been zero foreign investment, no capital flow, no job creation, and no foreign exchange generated. He also highlighted that while the country has taken a hit, the only ones who seem to have benefited from this apparently failed project are the entities that sold land to Portico for the cruise terminal development.

 

Chris Coye, Minister of State, Finance

“As I revisit my experience over the past couple years on this matter, it is unfortunate what has transpired. Since change of government, it became reasonably clear to me that there was serious investment interest from such parties as Boskalis and Royal Caribbean, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. With the barrage of propaganda on this project and even this inquiry, it is unclear where that level of interest now stands. From a development perspective, as it relates to this project, Belize has lost. There has been no foreign investment, no capital inflow, there has been no employment generated, there has been no foreign exchange generated. There has been no economic diversification in this area. In fact, the cruise tourism product has experienced degeneration not modernization. While overnight tourism has been performing tremendously, cruise tourist arrivals continue to fall. Unless a modern cruise port is built soon, the ships and their passengers will just pass us by. While Belize has lost, there have been beneficiaries. Those who sold lands to the Portico entity enjoyed the proceeds of sale. Then there are certain foreign funded NGO’s who in fact raise money on the backs of their purported achievements for conservation while at the same time halting development opportunities to the detriment of our people. The scuttling of such a project of this nature could very well be seen as a victory for those certain special interests.”