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?

President Ma Ying-Jeou of Taiwan, shovels dirt for new construction in Belmopan of an ICT center.

President of Taiwan, Belize's best foreign aid partner.


TAIWAN TO GO AHEAD WITH THE $600,000 BZ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CENTER CONSTRUCTION IN THE CAPITAL BELMOPAN

The visit by President Ma Ying-Jeou resulted in a formal shoveling of dirt for the construction of the much ballyhooed ICT center project in our nation’s capital. The first stage is to build the building and purchase the hardware. President Ma Ying-Jeou said the island country of Taiwan was way ahead of Belize in this field and could lead the way to making an electronic type government and nation of Belize.

The second stage, somewhere down the future, six months away or more, is to open up portals and data base systems to serve the bureaucracy of Belize in establishing an Electronic government. A lot of training and hiring of new people to learn how to handle sophisticated computer technology will be necessary. I certainly hope a batch of software programmers come out of this project along the way, to start a new industry in Belize, writing software. Belize is a small populated country, so not much is expected to be required in either equipment or trained persons. Probably training people in modern data base systems will take the most time.

I foresee a problem with this ICT thingy. For one thing, we don't have internet or telephone in much of the geographic area of the country. It is not going to serve us in Santa Elena Town. We still do not have any reliable cell phone, or access to copper line land phones, or internet service and we are in a growing main district town in Santa Elena. Much of the Toledo District communities have no utility services, or communications and so is the Stann Creek District and Cayo District. I kind of hoped when the first hoopla came about telecommunications assistance from Taiwan was announced, that it would mean we would get telephone and internet service. Alas, it is just some government thing for Belize City the port and Belmopan the capital town apparently?

TAIWAN INVESTMENT TO INCREASE IN BELIZE

President of Taiwan



TAIWAN INVESTORS EXCITED ABOUT AGRICULTURE PROJECTS AND FISH FARMING IN THE OCEAN AND ON LAND

We got the impression from the Taiwanese President’s speeches that his investors back home want to invest in fish farming of different types and agriculture projects in Belize. We could certainly see more Taiwanese migrate to Belize, we hope, investing outside of the traditional food and merchandise retailing preferences. We want Taiwanese with capabilities of our pioneering Mennonite immigrants for industry and agriculture development. Light manufacturing is also needed in Belize.
Personally I’d like to see Taiwanese investors establish industries which would turn around and export products to Taiwan. We would also like to establish markets in Taiwan for sugar, candy chocolates, liquors and rums of different kinds that we produce well. As such a small unsophisticated country, we find it difficult to figure out how to sell Taiwan anything we produce. I have had a lot of trouble and given up in even being able to buy products from Taiwan. Can't figure it out. Much less try to find buyers for products we would like to make here and sell them in Taiwan. ( HOW TO DO IT? ) Technical assistance from Taiwan to enable Belizean entrepreneurs to open small niche markets for Belize products would be very helpful to our beginning economy. Taiwan could be of immense assistance in helping us figure out how to export to Taiwan.
I’d like a Taiwanese buyer for chocolate candy, of the upscale high priced gourmet kind. Or a specialized expensive gourmet type rum, for example.
Wish I could afford a trip to Taiwan to study and write up some articles on the possibilities of mutual trade. Alas, cannot justify such an expense. Do not talk Mandarin so that is a problem also.
The new President of Taiwan has also said, more technical assistance will be forthcoming. Mostly in the field of rice production and fish farming. We certainly will welcome Taiwanese investment in this field in Belize.
The problem with Chinese investment, is that new immigrants go into merchandise retailing and what we need is 5000 Taiwanese that will go into light manufacturing for export. Industrial development preferably.

EXCELLENT SPEECH IN BELMOPAN, BELIZE, BY PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN

PRESIDENT MA OF TAIWAN GAVE EXCELLENT SPEECH IN BELIZE

By Ray Auxillou

In his round of diplomatic and political speeches, we saw some of it on Cable television in Belize. The President of Taiwan came across as sincere, well meaning, in his personal speeches on the relationship between Belize and other allies of Taiwan.
In a nutshell, he said that Taiwan was suffering from the World Recession and loss of exports just like everybody else and Taiwan had to cut back on foreign dollar diplomacy assistance. He did say that the 26 countries or so, that are Taiwan’s closest international political supporters, would continue to receive assistance in one form or another from Taiwan. He qualified this by saying, that this meant they in Taiwan, would have to prioritize requests for assistance. He would do his best to continue programs of technical assistance to places like Belize. Perhaps even expanding them, depending on the mission goals for development. What he didn’t say but was implied, was that probably he was going to cut back on GRANTS and LOANS. Taiwan is currently suing some country in the Caribbean for a loan left unpaid, with interest mounting. Whichever country it is, had switched it’s political assistance from Taiwan to Mainland China.
One got the impression that President Ma of Taiwan expressed himself very well, in an articulate, friendly and sincere manner to the people of Belize. I liked the guy and what he said and the way he said it. Belize definitely has a close friend with Taiwan in our corner.

Belize and Taiwan experiment with Polina tomatos in tropical Belize conditions.

Polina tomato experiment finished in tropical Belize.

The Taiwanese Agriculture Mission experiment with the POLINA tomato variety is now done at Central Farm. They are one of the best growing tomatos in Belize for all general conditions.

Experimental Research
Belize Development Trust
Box 276, San Ignacio, Belize