TAIWAN, HONG KONG AND CHINA AS MARKET FOR BELIZE SUGAR

Orange Walk Tower Hill Sugar Factory



TAIWAN, HONG KONG AND MAINLAND CHINA AS A MARKET FOR BELIZEAN SUGAR

By Ray Auxillou, June 19, 2009

With the return of our first batch of Taiwanese University graduates to Belize, one can only hope with their exposure to Taiwan, the culture, business savvy and language exposure to Mandarin, will help us develop some sort of exports to these three places.
The Sugar Company in Orange Walk would be remiss in their duty to their shareholders, if they did not utilize one of these Belizean graduates of Taiwan Universities, to arrange exports of their sugar to any of these three countries.
At the moment, under the newly elected President of Taiwan, the island of Taiwan and mainland China have instigated a One Country – Two Systems inter- government policy. Direct trade has opened up between Taiwan, and Mainland China. Before this, all Taiwanese trade with mainland China had to go in a roundabout way, through either Japan, or Hong Kong. Under the new Taiwanese government, direct traffic is the rule and tourism and trade between mainland China and Taiwan has blossomed to gigantic proportions. Ships and aircraft are making dozens if not hundreds of daily flights between the mainland and Taiwan. The future for Taiwan is trade with mainland China. That said; mainland China, Taiwan itself, and Hong Kong, represent a significant opportunity for Belizean for exports and imports. Of immediate need in Belize is finding export markets for our sugar, a very ailing industry. We need desperately to diversify our economy and our markets for raw material staples in Belize.
We need to diversify and we need to get more experience in dealing with the Chinese markets for future exports. Even if the Orange Walk, Sugar Company is lethargic and unwilling to pay consultant fees to one of our Belizean graduates to open up the Chinese markets for our sugar, there is an alternate opportunity for any of these fourteen returning graduates to set themselves up in business. Processing, or bagging sugar on arrangement with the Sugar Factory in Orange Walk, to special order requirements, would provide a business of itself, for an innovative business entrepreneur. Finding the correct buyers and making deals as a middle man, to tack on a 15% margin for business earnings, dealing with Letters of Credit through a local bank and providing a sugar product, or several sugar products for sale and export, C.I.F Orange Walk, should be a very good business opportunity. Sugar exports are in the millions of dollars, and 15% of that would ensure a viable export sugar business. All any entrepreneur has to do is work with the banks and the sugar factory and place orders. You need a small home office and an inventive enquiring dynamic mind as your capital.
TAIWAN TRADE is the import/export website for Taiwan. I do not know the equivalent of this web site for either Hong Kong, or mainland China?