International speakers and experts in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), along with members of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and entrepreneurs will meet at the Belize Biltmore Plaza Hotel in Belize City on Friday, 18th November to participate in the second annual National Entrepreneurship Convention, (ENTRECON).
Continue reading “Entrepreneurship Convention 2016 (EntreCon)- Unlocking ICT Innovation In Belize”
The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) , officially handed over a new security and maintenance facility to the University of Belize (U.B.).
Hon. Tracy Taegar-Panton, Minister of State in the Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce with responsibility for BELTRAIDE, handed over the keys to the new building to Mr. Alan Slusher, President of the University of Belize during a brief ceremony held this morning at the U.B.’s Faculty of Management and Social Sciences Campus in Belize City.
The L-Shaped building is approximately 2,000 sq. ft. and was built on a 36” x 14” reinforced concrete strip footing raised 24” above grade level with 6” reinforced core filled blocks. The walls comprise of 2” x 4” timber-frame cladded on the outside with construction latte paper and ¾” timber resembling plycem known as cempestre plycem. The inner walls are also timber-frame cladded with ½”drywall. The same applies for the ceiling. The roof comprise mainly of 2”x 6” rafters secured with hurricane clips and straps and cladded with red galvalume roofing.
The building is comprised of two sections – one for the U.B. Security Staff and the other for the U.B. Maintenance Department. Each section comprises of an open office space, a private office and restrooms for each area. The building is valued at approximately $60,000 Belize dollars and was built by Contractor Sergio Luna.
The facility is a part of a development agreement between BELTRAIDE and the University of Belize that was signed on September 17th, 2015 which entails the construction of the Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute (BEI2), which will be located on the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences U.B. Belize City Campus. BEI2 will house two of BELTRAIDE’s technical units: SBDCBelize and EXPORTBelize and is designed to nurture entrepreneurship and innovation and strengthen Belize’s enterprise competitiveness.
The University of Belize and BELTRAIDE continues to foster a very productive and mutually beneficial relationship for the development of Belize!
On Sunday, May 22nd, 2016, Galen University graduated ninety-nine students at its 13th Commencement Exercises held at the Muffles College Auditorium in Orange Walk Town.
Graduates received degreesin various fields including Anthropology, Environmental Science, Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Elementary Education, Accounting and Business Administration.
Hon. Tracy Taegar- Panton, Minister of State in the Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade & Commerce, delivered the keynote address, highlighting the emerging socio-economic needs and challenges in the public and private sectors and how Belizeans can combine their skills, talents and experiences to shape a new future. The minister stressed the importance of diversifying our economic base using technology, promoting innovation and entrepreneurship as well as maintaining open dialogue to foster co-ordination and objectivity on matters of national importance.
Galen University is a private Belizean university chartered and licensed by the Government of Belize. Its mission is to provide excellence in undergraduate, graduate and professional education to prepare students to achieve their dreams and goals. The university is committed to providing an exciting and stimulating a learning environment, innovative and supportive teaching, scholarships and active service to the community – with a unique focus on sustainable development throughout its courses, programmes and service
Continue reading “Minister Panton delivers Keynote Address at Galen University Graduation”
On May 19th 2016, Ms. Lejia Melanie Gideon, General Manager, Enterprise and Innovation Division, Beltraide, presented to a roomful of women from all over the country on the role of the Small Business Development Centre (SBDCBelize), Beltraide, in creating economic prosperity through entrepreneurial development, business innovation and competitiveness.
Ms. Gideon shared an inspiring analogy, describing the process of opening a business to being similar to that of childbirth. She shared that in the same way an expecting mother awaits the birth of her child with eager anticipation and most times,worry, a new business owner worries over the success of his or her business. She explained that just as how family and friends offer guidance with the care of the new child, Business Advisors at SBDCBelize assist business owners to nurture and grow their businesses.
In her presentation, Ms Gideon encouraged the women to explore their potential to become entrepreneurs by becoming a client of SBDCBelize and partaking in their free business advising sessions and year-long workshops offered currently in all districts. She also shared information on the work of the Belize Training and Employment Centre (BTEC), another unit of Beltraide, which provides various industry-specific job preparedness trainings in areas such as: Business Process Out-Sourcing (BPO), Front Desk, Bartending, Waitstaff, Basics of Care-Giving and more.
She encouraged all women to take advantage of the opportunities offered to them by Beltraide and asked those interested to visit the offices or send an email guaranteeing that every query will be answered.
Beltraide, which operates within the portfolio of the Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade and Commerce, aims to enable a dynamic business environment for Belize’s socio-economic growth and looks forwards to an ongoing partnership with the Women’s Department which continues to encourage the economic development and empowerment of women through various programmes and projects.
The forum was an all day event and included other presentations from representatives of Credit Unions, the Cooperative Department, the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology and many others.
On Wednesday March 16th the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service, BELTRAIDE and Atlantic Bank Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding to partner in outreach initiatives where possible. This first of its kind partnership features the Government’s leading development agency and one of the country’s largest financial commercial banks agreeing to sensitize entrepreneurs and the business community on services and products aimed to improve their business enterprises.
The agreement also seeks to promote global trade finance programs including pre-import and pre-export financing. Ms. Lejia Melanie Gideon, General Manager of Enterprise and Innovation Division, Beltraide signed on their behalf while Ms. Sandra Bedran signed on behalf of Atlantic Bank Ltd.
SBDCBelize in partnership with Young Americas Business Trust (YABT), Organization of American States (OAS), Ministry of MASHAV – Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jerusalem and The Golda Meir Mount Camel International Training Centre (MCTC) coordinated a five day Business Lab focused on Intellectual Properties and Commercialization of Creative Industries held from November 9th to November 13th, 2015 at the Belize Training and Employment Centre (BTEC) Building located in Freetown Road, ITVET Compound, Belize City.
The objective of this workshop is to provide tools and skills to national institutions that implement economic development programs by providing potential local trainers and facilitators with a flexible and effective methodology to create a heightened awareness among nationals and to explore opportunities along with the related steps to start up their business. Additionally, it will focus on providing participants with hands on training and helping them acquire tools that will aid them in the development of innovative ideas and their implementation.
The workshop opened on Monday, 9th November at 8:00am sharp at BTEC, with remarks from Ambassador Orem Bar El, Ambassador of Israel to Belize and El Salvador and Ambassador Nestor Mendez, the Chair of the Inter-American Council for InteAS.
The media was invited to attend the opening ceremonies and can also drop by during the four-day workshop for coverage of the event.
On September 17, 2015, the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), in collaboration with the University of Belize held the ground breaking ceremony for the construction of a new facility: Belize Enterprise and Innovation Institute (BEI2).
The building will be located on University of Belize’s Faculty of Management and Social Sciences campus in Belize City and will house two of BELTRAIDE’s technical units: SBDC Belize an Export Belize. It is designed to nurture entrepreneurship and innovation and strengthen Belize’s enterprise competitiveness.
The building will accommodate a series of meeting rooms, small business incubators as well as a resource centre. The BEI2 is the first government facility to incorporate both Green and SMART technologies which will be beneficial in promoting environmental conservation as well as encouraging the use of modern technologies to facilitate enterprise and innovation.
At the launch a memorandum of Understanding was signed between BELTRAIDE and the University of Belize as a symbol of an extended partnership. Signing on behalf of UB was Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Harrison Pilgrim and on behalf of BELTRAIDE was CEO in the Ministry of Trade, Investment Promotion, Private Sector Development and Consumer Protection, Michael Singh, other signatories included: Leija Melanie Gideon, Manager of Enterprise and Innovation, BELTRAIDE and President of UB, Alan Slusher.
The facility is being designed by Hilberto Riverol Jr.
BELTRAIDE wants to sincerely thank the US Mission to the OAS, the OAS and University of Texas at San Antonio for all their kind assistance and guidance over the last three years. Without their assistance, BELTRAIDE would not be able to achieve all its successes under its SBDCBelize and EXPORTBelize units and have this very notable milestone of BEI2 groundbreaking.
Do you have an innovative mind? Want a chance to win up to USD 70,000 in prizes (BZ $140,000)? The American Association for the Advancement of Science in collaboration with the United States Department of State is having an innovation competition called Tech – I. It connects young innovators across the globe and serves as a platform for innovative minds and entrepreneurial spirits to meet. Kindly see eligibility requirements. Deadline for submissions are July 21st, 2014. For further information, kindly contact BELTRAIDE at beltraide@belizeinvest.org.bz or +501 822-3737/0175 or the Ministry of Energy, Science & Technology and Public Utilities at + 501 822 3336/0160/0162 or email science.tech_coordinator@estpu.gov.bz
The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy, Science & Technology and Public Utilities, the Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) and the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) cordially invites you to: A national competition bringing together the brightest minds in Information Technology at the tertiary level.
Creativity, innovation and technical skills will be rewarded handsomely. The panel of judges will evaluate the coded prototype or mock up of the proposed solution today Monday, June 16th, 2014 and the winning team(s) will claim the title of Belize Hackathon 2014 champion and will be receiving prizes from primary sponsors and organizers who include Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL), the Belize Tourism Board and our U.S. Sponsors (P & G Walmart). This event is being held in Belize City at the ITVET Campus, Dining Room from 9:30 am to 3:00pm. Winners will be announced at 2:00pm after which the winning team will have an opportunity to work with the receiving organization in fully developing and launching the mobile application.
