business perspective new letter august 2013
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Education is a driver of inclusive growth
and poverty reduction, and vital to the
achievement of broader development
goals. Education has the power to turn
the course of human development from
poverty to improved living standards for
all.
Education plays a pivotal role in the
development of any nation. Our
education system traditionally does not
equip our young people to think as
entrepreneurs but to think of getting the
best education possible to land them a
good job. There is a definite lack of
qualified human resources to meet the
demands of the public and private sector
and for Belize to be a player in the
regional and international stage we must
make significant investment in our human
capital. Political commitment and
leadership must be mobilized to make
improved earning a reality for all children.
I was honored when the
YWCA invited me to address
the 2013 graduation class of
the Adult and Continuing
Education. These are young
people who represent an
important group of
entrepreneurs in Belize, a
path that is not often
trodden. We need to
encourage and empower
our small businesses and
young entrepreneurs to
move on a path toward
sustainability if we are to
grow our economy and
effectively reduce our
poverty. I encouraged the
graduates to look at the
territory of Belize as the
beginning and to aspire to
reach a market beyond our
330,000 people, beyond our
Trade Perspective page 3 Western Union Perspective page 13
Service Perspective page 6 Human Resource Perspective page 14
Membership Perspective page 9
Contributing Editor: Mrs. Kim Aikman, CEO of BCCI
2
Cont. from page 1
borders, to be a part of the transformation of Belize
from an importing Nation to an exporting Nation.
As a nation we must commit to the highest standard of
service, if we are to compete effectively on the world
stage we must move from mediocrity that we are so
used to, towards excellence. We have excellent
potential to find our niche markets, no two countries fit
the exact mould and Belize has so much diversity that
we can offer to the world. I leave you with one of my
favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson; “WE are all
inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery,
guided each by a private chart, of which there is no
duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.”
Join the Chamber today . .
It makes dollar $ & Sense!
As the voice of the private sector, the
chamber offers active advocacy, meaningful
networking, capacity building opportunities and
a vehicle to positively influence the private
enterprise system and the wider community in
which we operate and live.
The BCCI—Taking Care of Business!
3
Contributing Editor: Mrs. Marilyn Pinelo –Lee, Chief Policy Analyst
A trade agreement is defined as a contractual
agreement between states concerning their trade
relations. It may be bilateral, between two states or
multilateral, between more than two states. Trade
agreements aim to overcome barriers such as tariffs
and other governmental restrictions, creating more
free flowing trade and opening up new markets to
promote each nation’s economic vitality. One
specific type of trade agreement is known as a
partial scope agreement or PSA. Under a PSA trade
preferences are granted only on specific trade
goods. This form of agreement typically takes place
between a nation with a more developed economy
and a nation with a less developed economy. PSA’s
are implemented to ensure that regardless of which
state has a stronger economy, the agreement is
mutually beneficial to all parties involved.
(Partial-scope-agreement-between-belize-and-guatemala-an-overview)
The Belize – Guatemala Partial Scope Agreement
(PSA) is the first trade agreement that Belize has
signed with another country bi-laterally.
Negotiations were launched on 22 November 2004.
Belize signed the Agreement on 26 June 2006, and
the Congress of Federal Government of Guatemala
approved the PSA in October 2009. The Guatemalan
President issued a decree to give effect to the
agreement on April 4, 2010. (BCCI Trade and Investment Zone)
The PSA has the stated objectives of facilitation,
promotion, diversification and expansion of trade
between both parties; the development of
mechanisms for the promotion of investments; the
facilitation of land transportation of goods covered
under the agreement and the establishment of an
efficient and transparent system for the resolution
of trade disputes. The agreement takes into
account the differing sizes of the two economies
and provides for special and differential treatment,
with Guatemala making certain concessions to Belize.
The nature of the agreement is also very flexible. The
scope of the agreement allows for amendments which
would widen the level of products and goods covered
under the agreement. Also, it is possible to bring other
nations into the agreement, making possible a
multilateral agreement including Mexico. Though
flexible there are safeguard provisions protecting each
parties’ investments. The PSA forbids either party
from nationalizing or expropriating a venture, which
would nullify the value of the other party’s investment,
unless it is in the interest of the public good and goes
through the proper legal channels, in which case the
investor must be quickly and properly compensated.
Another safeguard preventing this agreement from
becoming detrimental to one state or unfairly benefit-
ing another is a provision which allows for either party
to withdraw from the agreement, provided written
notice is given to the other party with a six month
grace period before the termination of the agreement.
The agreement includes produce such as a quoted
amount of maize and black beans, plantains, citrus
fruits, mangos, guavas, watermelons, rice, etc. animals
such as fish, crustaceans, live poultry, swine and cattle,
meats, etc. and products such as latex, woven fabrics,
wooden and wicker furniture etc. These goods are
now able to be sold reciprocally between Belize and
Guatemala either duty free or with a fifty percent
reduction in duties. For a detailed list of preferential
tariffs that Belize grants to Guatemala see (Annex 1) by Clicking
on (view agreement) on the BCCI link provided (http://www.belize.org/tiz/belize-
guatemala-partial-scope-agreement)
Belize stands to benefit from this agreement in many
ways. Guatemala has always relied heavily on imports
from the United States concerning produce such as
rice, beans, corn and oranges as well as live animals
such as swine and poultry. The preferential treatment
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and relaxing of duties on these goods from Belize
will allow the agricultural and livestock industries in
Belize to expand their markets into Guatemala and
compete with the United States there. This benefits
both parties as Belize gains new markets to sell
goods and Guatemala will save costs on
transportation due to Belize’s close proximity and
costs on goods due to a more competitive market.
Similarly Guatemala has previously imported large
quantities of fish, shrimp, prawns and crustaceans
from countries such as the United States, Nicaragua
and Honduras. This is another sector in which both
countries stand to benefit due to new markets, more
competition and lower shipping costs. In 2008
Guatemala imported $4 million US worth of shrimp
and prawns from the U.S. and Nicaragua alone, with
a negligible amount of imports coming from Belize.
The reduction in duties will give Belize the
opportunity to enter into this market and expand its
exports. Similarly in 2008, Guatemala imported over
$4 million US worth of rice from the United States
with almost none coming from Belize. The newly
acquired access to markets such as these will greatly
benefit Belize’s economy, early estimates indicated
that these agreements should result in formal annual
exports increasing anywhere from 5 to 14 million BZD
by the fifth year of implementation
(www.caribbeanpressrelease.com). Aside from each party
benefitting from new markets and more affordable
goods the PSA allows for investments and joint
ventures to be made. This would allow for Belizean
businesses to attract investors from Guatemala,
helping to expand the economy and strengthen
economic ties.
Colombia is a prime example of the beneficial effects
of entering into PSA with neighboring nations.
Colombia entered into a PSA with Chile, under the
Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), which
covered trade in a limited number of goods. In 2006
the PSA led to the elimination of tariffs on 96 percent
of bilateral trade. This agreement proved to be
beneficial to both countries and today the two are in a
free trade agreement, incorporating services,
investment, labor, intellectual property, etc. with
improved trade discipline and a dispute settlement
mechanism in place, strengthening the ties between
the two countries and helping to benefit each nation’s
economies. Colombia has also followed this model
with the nations of the Northern Triangle. After
having entered into PSA’s with these nations in the
mid 1980’s Colombia now enjoys strong ties and free
trade agreements that are beneficial to all parties
involved.
In short Belize has much to gain from entering into
partial scope agreements with neighboring nations.
Stronger ties with surrounding nations and expanded
markets allowing for an increase in exported goods
are among these benefits. Under PSA’s Belize can
expand its market for exports without the fear of
having imported goods smothering businesses at
home, while attracting new investors to Belizean
businesses.
Cont. from page 3
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What does it mean to be of service?
This is something that everyone in the private or public
sector, both employer and employee should ask
themselves.
In the English Commonwealth Caribbean there has
been a history of derogation of the word “service”,
confusing the meaning of the word with “subservient”.
This has particular issues coming from our post-colonial
legacy that will most likely continue for a long time to
come.
I would like to think
that to be of “service”
would rather mean
that one is “useful”.
Usefulness can take
many forms and it
does not depend on
whether someone
wears a suit, a
uniform, or swimming
trunks for that matter.
As an example, one of the richest men I know is a
mechanic. The fact that he gets his hands covered in
grease and does not wear fancy clothes was never a
problem for him. When he was a child his tertiary level
educated parents beat him so that he did well in his
academic schoolwork. However, all he wanted to do
was to fix cars in shop class. Fast forward thirty years
later he owns a chain of automobile stores throughout
West Coast Canada, has many employees and
continues to earn income even if he does not pick up a
single tool. However, in his primary residence (since he
has many homes throughout the world), he has a fleet
of vintage automobiles that he has collected over the
years that he works on in his spare time whenever he
gets the chance. He says that he does this because it
makes him happy and it is what he has always been
good at.
Also, the most down to earth European politician I
ever met was in the city of Aarhus, Denmark (the
second largest city in Denmark, just after its capital
Copenhagen). While visiting the City Hall with a friend
in order to climb the building’s spire and get a good
360 degree view, on a clear summer’s morning, of the
charming Scandinavian harbour town an attractive
woman in a business suit welcomed me and spoke a
bit about the town and welcomed any comments
that we might have to improve things. I told my
friend that the greeting staff was very professional
and friendly. He told me that she was the Mayor of
the town (it must be said that my friend and I were
dressed merely in jeans and t-shirts, certainly not
business clothes). I ended up meeting with her and
asked her if it was tough being the Mayor. She
laughed and said it was very challenging and
sometimes she would like to do nothing better than
run away from all the responsibilities, politics and
insufficient funds. However, she said that she does it
because it makes her happy and it is what she is good
at.
If these personal stories from foreign countries seem
a bit remote in terms of examples, then let us return
home.
I have found some of the most professional persons I
know employed right here in the Belize Tourism
sector, which is by all accounts the number one
foreign exchange earner for the country. I have been
to resorts and hotels throughout Belize where one
cannot distinguish the owner from the worker in
Contributing Editor: Mr. Rishi Mungal, VP Service, BCCI
7
terms of level of hospitality, attentiveness, knowledge
and attention. There is one resort where the foreign
Owner shovels hay for horses in the humid heat while
the local Manager is the one that does paperwork in
the cool and quiet air conditioned office. These places
end up becoming known worldwide for these very
same reasons. The owners become very wealthy and
are able to send their employees for training and
education. I know of one famous resort that sent their
best Manager to Europe in order to obtain his Master’s
Degree so that he could return to Belize and ensure
that the resort continued to improve for many years to
come.
The Belize International Financial Services (IFS) sector
(also termed the “offshore” sector in vernacular) is an
industry that only services foreign clients. IFS clients
come from Europe, Latin America and Asia as well as
North America. Unlike Tourism, which caters both to
locals and foreigners, the IFS sector is the same as
Tourism in two major aspects: (1) It earns foreign
exchange, and (2) It provides employment for
Belizeans. While the IFS sector does benefit lawyers,
bankers and accountants, there is also a lot of support
staff which is required and employed. I know of one
particular IFS Employer in the Private Sector that has
won an award by the Belize division of a world famous
international service organization for Employee
Retention, meaning that in the entire country of Belize
this foreign owned firm was awarded for employing its
Belizean staff the longest and had the least
turnaround of staff. I did not see them chain anyone to
the desks. A lot of these IFS firms also send their staff
for training. Some more senior or experienced staff
eventually open their own offices. Other members of
clerical staff even proceed to become lawyers, bankers
and accountants themselves.
Both industries are highly dependent on the services
Cont. from page 6
8
Cont. from page 7
provided within Belize to a world that has many different options which offer the same or similar things.
This is why we must be always committed to equate and even qualify the term “service” with the word
“quality”. The foreign exchange that is earned for the country and the income that is derived from same go
to pay taxes, wages, social security, insurance and help provide further options to the next generation of
Belizeans. They also attract foreigners who recognize Belize for the special country that it is and end up
wishing to be productive, contribute to society and to make a home here.
Various foreign travel channels have featured Belize in glowing terms. I even purchased a guidebook in
Europe that featured a famous restaurant that specializes in wonderful local creole dishes. Because of their
commitment to quality in making excellent Belizean food, one can regularly find persons speaking a variety
of languages from the European Union who knew that they had to eat at that specific restaurant as a
necessary and highly enjoyable part of their travel agenda while visiting Belize.
Belize has a natural geographic and cultural advantage being a Latin/Caribbean country which also benefits
those employed in the construction industry and as real estate brokers. The country has seen much
development when the right foreign investors purchase, lease and develop real estate. This can be a large
resort or condominium project that may provide months of employment to Belizean construction workers,
a small two story residence/commercial combo for a couple with living space upstairs while they have their
business downstairs where carpenters, plumbers and electricians need to visit from time to time on an
ongoing basis, or even office space that needs to be leased from Belizean landowners from foreign
investors who decide to engage in business here (usually in the Tourism or IFS sectors).
In my opinion, Belize needs to continue to increase (in quantity and quality) its number of foreign investors,
foreign visitors and foreign income in order to grow by leaps and bounds in a sustainable manner. The
country is far too small in terms of population, income and purchasing power in order to grow at a large
scale otherwise. This growth will end up directly and indirectly benefitting Belizeans, which are all
themselves, apart from our Mayan friends, products of visitors who decided to plant roots in this very
fertile soil.
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CONNECT
The BCCI is here to connect you to exciting business
opportunities. We are proud to announce that Ms.
Tiffany Simpson of Belizean Artwork Publishing was
selected as one of the four winners in the Women
Innovators Network Caribbean (WINC) “Innovative
Women Entrepreneurs Competition” in April 2013.
Ms. Simpson was awarded the opportunity to travel
to infoDev’s Global Forum in South Africa at the end
of May to attend the African Women Entrepreneurs
Roundtable programme where she would
represent Belize, herself as a woman entrepreneur
and her business.
WINC Design Team received 77 eligible applications
from around the Caribbean. We were told that the
quality of submissions were so high that it was a
tough competition for every applicant. The WINC
team was also much honored to share Tiffany’s
achievement. Upcoming WINC’s activities are
face-to-face networking/support meetings,
creativity and innovation workshops, mentoring
programme, sharing of resources and various
business-related databases and an incubation
programme. Updates and more details on these
activities can be found at https:/www.facebook.com/
WomenInnovatorsNetworkCaribbean.
SAVE the date, September 14th and 15th, 2013 for this
year’s Expo Belize Market Place which will be held
at the ITVET compound on Freetown Road in Belize
City. This is an event you can’t miss if you are in
business and want exposure, make the right
contacts and increase your sales. Last year, the
Expo attracted over 18,000 people who were able
to appreciate arts, culture, entertainment and
booth displays from the Commerce, Industry,
Manufacturing and Services sector. This year we
plan to make it bigger and better! Limited
booths are available. Please contact our office at
223-5330 or email expo@belize.org to find out
more information on reserving your booth.
Entrance tickets for Adults and Children will also
be available for sale at our office before the
expo event. Get your tickets early to miss those
long lines.
CAPACITATE
Through the MOU we share with the University
of the West Indies (UWI), Open Campus Belize,
we hosted the Public Lecture Business Mixer on
“Media and the Portrayal of Violence, Its Effects
on Children and the Wider Community” on April
8th, 2013 at our conference room. Qualified
speaker for the night was Dr. Leith L. Dunn, a
Jamaican Sociologist and Senior Lecturer/Head
of the Institute for Gender and Development
Studies (IGDS) Mona Unit, at the University of
the West Indies in Jamaica. This session
spotlighted the ethics, principles and legality
involved in presenting information on the Media
in comparison to the present norms we
experience in Belize.
Ambassador James Murphy and Mr. Eamon
Courtenay, two well versed men in the Belize-
Guatemala Dispute were special guests at the
ICJ Referendum Business Mixer held on March
21st to educate members on the referendum.
Even though it was announced just before this
mixer was planned, that Guatemala had backed
Contributing Editor: Ms. Yorshabell Cattouse, Manager Membership & Labour
10
down and the referendum would not be held on
October 6th, 2013 as prior, we saw it important
to have this meeting and to inform our members
so that they can make the best decision if the
need ever arises.
We continue to have consecutive trainings
through the partnership of the UWI and other
qualified trainers. On March 13th, the “Writing
and Analyzing Financial Reports” was held
followed by “Marketing and Sales” on April 10th,
“The New Supervisor” on April 23rd, “Superior
Customer Service” on May 14th, and “The Golden
Rules of Public Relations” on May 23rd. The
trainings most signed up for were: “Mentoring
and Coaching for Supervisors” on May 28th and
“How to Communicate with Tact and
Credibility” held on June 25th. We have
upcoming trainings in Human Resources,
Finance, Leadership and a special motivational
speaker through the support of the U.S.
Embassy.
In early June we had a special visit from The
International Labour Organization (ILO) and
partnership in facilitating two very important
workshop sessions: Dispute Avoidance and
Resolution through Good Management
Practices and Enhanced Mediation and
Negotiation workshop on June 3rd. and The Role
of Labour Standards in Accessing International
Markets and Supporting the Caribbean Single
Market held on June 4th.
The workshop sessions were facilitated by Mrs.
Anne Knowles, Senior Specialist, Employers’
Activities, Decent Work Team/Office for the
Caribbean, Mr. Wayne Chen, President of
Caribbean Employers Confederation and
Cont. from page 9
Mr. Pierre Francois Recoing, ILO’s Labour Standards
specialist.
The Labour Standards session was very important to
Employers involved in the export market to let them
understand the implications of market access
requirements related to labour standards.
Thereafter, they would be in a better position to
support the Caribbean Single Market approach and
ensuring a wide understanding and compliance with
expected norms.
The Dispute Avoidance and Resolution session
focused on practices to resolve disputes at the
business, negotiation skills, how to employ the right
people in the right way, communicating and
counseling, managing absenteeism and positive
discipline.
CHAMPION
The BCCI commemorated its 93rd Annual General
Meeting on April 25th, 2013 in its McField Conference
Center located on Coney Drive in Belize City. This
year was not an election year, but there was still
much to be reported on. Mr. Allen Reimer, Vice
11
Cont. from page 10
President Industry opened the meeting with a warm
welcome. We shared with members a video
presentation which showcased the productive
initiatives of the Chamber in 2012 for its members,
including capacity building workshops, advocating
on issues affecting the private sector, the launching
of the Christmas Expo Extravaganza, the Expo Be-
lize Market Place 2012 and other services of the
Chamber.
Mr. Yashin Dujon, Director for the Directorate of
Foreign Trade also took advantage of the group of
business men and women being present and
addressed them on the developments of the trade
agreements currently being negotiated and new
ones to come. The Keynote speaker of the night
was Mr. Alvin Henderson, Managing Director and
shareholder of Royal Mayan Shrimp Farms Limited.
Mr. Henderson has been involved in several large
agricultural projects in Belize particularly in the
banana and citrus industries. He spoke on the way
forward for Belizean businesses and encouraged
them to start forming clusters and to take
advantage of existing opportunities as Royal Mayan
Shrimp Farms Limited did through the Caribbean
Export they obtained the first technical assistance
Public Sector Dialogue to move Belize forward. The
Secretariat’s award was presented to Mrs. Ashanti
Arthurs Martin for being the “The Most Responsive
Executive Council Member” for the year 2012. The
AGM ended with a delightful social.
The Chamber continues to take care of business, to
connect, capacitate and champion your causes to
make your business pathway successful!
12
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In May, BCCI/Western Union held the draw of its
Bronze Chest. This is the culmination of the first
quarter of our current Treasure Chest Promotion.
For the first time this was done in the form of a
game show whereby contestants were chosen from
all our sub agent locations countrywide. We had
contestants from Orange Walk to Punta Gorda
represented. They had an opportunity to spin the
Treasure wheel that was loaded with prizes from all
our alliance partners.
Eight of the ten contestants chosen showed up.
Contestants spun the wheel in the first round and in
the bonus round they were challenged to answer
questions based on the alliance partners. Ms.
Margaret Lightburn was the top winner and she
won a Foot Bath Massage from Courts, a gift
certificate from Belize Vision Center and a gift
certificate from Mel’s Magic Touch Therapeutic Spa.
This is the first in a series of draw as a Back to
School and a Christmas draw are scheduled for this
August and December respectively with a lot of
fabulous prizes for our customers to win
culminating with a round trip ticket from United
Airlines, a two night stay at Casa Arena along with a
dive package from Amigos Del Mar, a round trip
ticket from Tropic Air to Honduras and a stay at
Dream Valley in the Cayo District.
Refreshments were provided by GraceKennedy and
the contestants had an enjoyable time.
Contributing Editor: Ms. Danette Burns, Western Union Manager
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI)
Western Union would like to congratulate the 2013
Graduating Class of Biscayne Primary School (BPS). It
has been six years since the BCCI adopted the school
and we are proud to once again witness the gradua-
tion of another successful group of talented and am-
bitious students. The theme for this year’s graduating
class , “Education is the most powerful weapon which
you can use to change the world” attest to the
students’ recognition of the importance and impact
of a sound education.
The Welcome address was delivered by Darien
Bethran and the Vote of Thanks was given by Lanece
Seguro. This year was a remarkable year as BPS
graduated one of the largest groups totaling sixteen
Contributing Editor: Ms. Ruth Gillett , Senior Administrator
The month of May is celebrated as the month for
Mothers, therefore, Management felt it was fitting
to honour and recognize our ten members of staff
who are Mothers with a small gift certificate. The
Mothers were all grateful and appreciative of the
recognition.
On the 28th May, Mr. James Daly, an intern from
State University of New York (SUNY) joined our staff
for a period of one month – he left on June 22nd.
James was under the tutelage of Mrs. Marlilyn
Pinelo-Lee – Chief Policy Analyst to assist with the
Trade and Investment Zone among other things. His
internship was facilitated by Dr. Nancy Adamson –
former Provost of Galen University. We would like to
thank her for partnering with us for the valuable as-
sistance we received from Mr. Daly.
On the 7th June, our quarterly staff meeting was held
in the BCCI’s Conference Room and many staff
related topics were discussed. An update was also
given on the organization’s status.
From the HR Corner we leave you with this quote
until next time!
“The one who creates a positive environment in all situations will be presented with countless opportunities.”
The Business Perspectives is compiled and
produced by the BCCI Secretariat
Editor-in-Chief: Producer: Mrs. Kim Aikman Mrs. Kim Aikman Contributing Editorials Ms. Kay Menzies Mrs. Marilyn Pinelo Lee Design & Layout: Mr. Rishi Mungal Delmi Novelo Ms. Yorshabell Cattouse Ms. Ruth Romero Mrs. Sharon Smiling
Ms. Danette Burns
Copyright 2013, All rights reserved
Cont. from page 13
students. The valedictorian was Devon Jones who
challenged his fellow classmates to pursue further
education and to not be satisfied with only a primary
school education. Mrs. KeriAnn Mason, their guest
speaker, encouraged students to look for whatever
talent they have and to develop those talents to the
best of their ability. She emphasized that by develop-
ing these talents students could change their world
one step at a time. Mrs. Mason emphasized that
parents should never give up on their children, but
should instead work with them. She ended by
encouraging teachers to continue being patient and to
look for ways in which they can bring out the best in a
child.
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