The Belize Trade and  Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) conducted the first module training on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in July 2012 with its staff and other relevant stakeholders such as the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Directorate of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Education, Belmopan and Belize City Council etc.  The facilitator of the training was Mr. Noel Kelly, Associate at the Communiqué International in Ireland.  He has extensive experience in promoting economic investment in Ireland and a number of other countries.

The FDI training derived from our Compete Caribbean Project, component 2 – “Strengthening the Institutional Capacity of BELTRAIDE”, this component includes the design and implementation of a training program in investment attraction, business facilitation and aftercare services.  Since, BELTRAIDE is the official trade and promotion agency in Belize, this training is very fundamental and beneficial.  The training delivery aims at ensuring a gender equitable distribution of beneficiaries in the general training and particularly for the case of the hands-on training.  The training also included a module on gender and private sector development that will cover the specific gap and barriers faced by women to start and grow businesses, as well as to reach global markets, and the international best practices to overcome them.  BELTRAIDE extended the invitation to other relevant key stakeholders to participate in the training in order to better equip them in interacting with international investors.

Topics such as IPA Best Practices and Functionality, FDI Processes, Best Selling Points, Investor Decision Making, Investment Generation Process, Marketing Channels, Web Site and Social Media, Research to Identify Potential Investors, Methodology to Approach Targeted Companies was thought in the training.  The participants were highly interactive and attentive.  Module 2 of the training is scheduled for September 2012.  If you are interested to be a part of the training, please feel to contact us at BELTRAIDE.