BELIZE - TRANSFORMATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GURU VISITS BELIZE!

PRIVATE SECTOR CRITIQUE OF CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUSINESS PERSPECTIVES TV PROGRAM WITH IDB REPRESENTATIVES IN BELIZE, CENTRAL AMERICA.
By Ray Auxillou/Hillview-Santa Elena Town
November 4th, 2010

Sort of an interesting program! The only person that made any sense in all that bureaucratic jargon and academic expertise was the telephone personality calling in, as a Harvard Professor specialist in TRANSFORMATION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
The panel discussion quickly became apparent, that neither the IDB representatives, or the Government representative gave more than cursory lip service to the contributions and observations of the Harvard Professor/Economist Mr. Huasman. True he was repetitious, but that was because neither the Government, the Chamber Chairperson, or the IDBank representatives seemed interested in what he was saying. Their total approach was different and from my view entirely wrong and selfish centered.
Huasman was right! The others were wrong in my personal view.
Concrete useful ideas coming out of TRANSFORMATION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT discussion, was the use of a telephone hot line, 311 to a GOVERNMENT SERVICES EXPEDITOR. Badly needed in Belize, as the current departments supposedly doing such things are worthless and procrastinators. Typical do-nothing bureaucrats. A way of solving problems at the government level for business is of paramount need in the Belize bureaucracy and political policy scene. How you are going to do that with a government that typically takes 3 years to issue a land title is another problem. An internal government problem. Do we need such a problem solving government intervention unit? Absolutely!
Another good idea I picked up, was the PRIVATE SECTOR INDUSTRIAL PARK. Had thought about doing that myself for years, but there are easier and less troublesome ways of making a profit and money. Nor are my grandchildren in their teens and twenties, old enough yet to be interested. They have to explore their world and find themselves yet as mature adults, around 32 years of age or so.
The AUXILLOU Family GROUP are divided themselves between those who have used bank loans and those that have sold shares, or developed partnerships. Either way, the easiest most profitable and successful way is by selling shares in a venture. To my view, the Chamber is on the WRONG TRACK messing with the IDBANK. Ask the Toledo Rice Growers Association, who have discovered they are working for the banks and producing a foreign exchange interest rate crop for the banks is no way to run a business. Just last week, they were complaining they cannot get ahead, no matter how successful they get in growing rice in Belize. They claim agriculture is unprofitable. Baloney! There are a lot of millionaires in Central and Northern Belize in agriculture. They need to move from Associations to share holding corporations. It is called TRANSFORMATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT I JUST DISCOVERED TONIGHT ( GRIN) Marie Sharp of Sharps Hot Sauces says the same thing. She has spent 30 years working for the bank loan payment interest game and cannot get ahead, no matter how successful she becomes.
The Chamber of Commerce need to be teaching their members how to form companies and sell shares in their ventures. Not worrying about CREDIT and paying back loans. A sure recipe for entrepreneurial disaster.
It became rapidly obvious, that neither the Government spokespeople, or the Chamber Chairperson understood the mechanics of how to create a start up business successfully. No wonder we are in a mess, when salaried people don´t know the first thing about starting a successful speculative enterprise.