BELIZE PRIVATE SECTOR QUESTIONS OPPORTUNITIES OF THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS.

THE SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS

From the viewpoint of Belize and our neighbors in Central America and in the CARIBBEAN CARICOM group, we are looking for CANADA to start up a foreign policy initiative with us in the 34 countries of the Americas again. This American Continent can survive if it has to, without the rest of the world. We could be self sufficient on our American continent.
The USA is pretty much overextended and having trouble in a world that is taking bigger and more slices of the world trade economic pie. What we want in Belize is for CANADA to resume it's old role of being involved with the CARIBBEAN in particular, and with Belize for sure. We want more Canadian tourism. To do that, we need more charter flights during our six month winter season out of CANADA, direct to Belize. How our small country can encourage that I don't know and certainly our politicians, or bureaucrats seem to have no clue. Nor do we have either the financial resources, or skills necessary to develop Canadian tourism to Belize. We need HELP from the Canadian government to do that. How can this be done? The summit of the Americas might resolve those problems, but don't hold your breath, because rhetoric and talk is cheap at summits. We also need technological Canadian help for picking out niche markets for agriculture and food products we could value add, in light manufacturing and export to the Canadian diaspora of Caribbean and Central American peoples up there in the cold white North, manufactured and shipped to Canadian markets. We lack the know how and experience and often the resources in Belize to do that also, with a place so far away. Yet such things would go a long way to make us bootstrap our economy and let us stand on our own two feet. It doesn't take much in the way of exports to provide an economic boom in Belize. We are not expecting much from the USA at the Summit. They obviously have not been able to handle their own problems, so are unlikely to be receptive, or even capable to do anything for Belize. The blind leading the blind just does not work very well.
Cuba and Venezuela are potentially export markets for Belizean products, but how do a free society of entrepreneurs like Belize deal with Communist regimes? Where everything is controlled by one party autocrats. The private sector in Belize are lost, we are too small and too poor to do anything about dealing with either CUBA or Venezuela. The communist system is a big mystery to our private sector. Yet in theory, there should be export and linkages possible. It is just our business class have no idea HOW, or with WHO to deal in these type communist societies. Maybe our political UDP leader and bureaucrats will be able to persue these things and give us ideas. Past performance doesn't lead one to believe this is going to happen though, from Belmopan. The SUMMIT is going to be an OPPORTUNITY, but methinks we lack the type of people we need to find and grab those opportunities.