The Government of Belize (GOB), through the Ministry with responsibility for Investment, Trade and Commerce, along with the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), hosted the Belize Agriculture Investment Mission in partnership with the Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan on October 20 – 26, 2019. This mission followed the successful execution of the Belize Tourism Investment Mission held earlier in June 2019. The visiting delegation included executives visiting from both Taiwan and the Taiwanese Community in North America. This investment mission focused on agriculture sought to provide insights into Belize’s growing agricultural industry through tailored meetings, site visits and other engagements with key public and private sector stakeholders. The mission aimed at facilitating increased investments through joint ventures in existing projects as well as new foreign direct investments (FDI) contributing to employment, foreign exchange and other benefits.

The Republic of China (ROC) Taiwan and Belize have long shared a fruitful friendship that continues to prosper even today with 2019 commemorating 30 years. Through this partnership, Belize continues to benefit from numerous social and economic exchanges, investments, higher educational opportunities and community development programs. Recently, a Letter of Intent (LOI) was signed in August 2019 to formally commence the negotiation of a bilateral Economic Cooperation Agreement in further strengthening the bilateral trade and investment relationships between both countries.

Belize’s agriculture industry, in particular, continues to be the foundation of the Belizean economy contributing up to 11% to GDP and 14% to total employment. The industry also contributed over BZ$300 million in domestic exports in 2019 while accounting for over 50% of Belize’s total exports. Belize’s strategic location, preferential market access to multiple regional and global markets, availability of high-yield arable land and its abundant pool of highly skilled labor provides an ideal platform with multiple competitive advantages for global agricultural business ventures. The Government of Belize also remains committed to support the industry’s growth through multiple investment incentive programs as well as the zero rating of duties on numerous agricultural equipment. Multiple investment opportunities exist in the traditional areas of citrus, sugar and banana, as well as non-traditional commodities such as cacao, turmeric, coconut and other organic, eco-labeled, value-added products for domestic and export markets.

BelizeINVEST, BELTRAIDE remains committed to facilitating your investment interests where applicable. For additional information on Belize’s agriculture industry or to learn more about scheduling an investment mission, contact our team at investment@belizeinvest.org.bz