By Government Press Office | BELIZE
BELMOPAN, Belize – Friday, April 1, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) between Belize, represented by BELTRAIDE chairman, Narda Garcia and executive director, Dr Leroy Almendarez and the private office of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi, represented by His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi, a member of the Royal Family of the Cities of Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, UAE (the Parties).
The purpose of the MOU is to provide for and promote cooperation and collaboration between the Parties in the field of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) inflow to Belize.
The agreed areas of cooperation include:
Energy Transformation: Launching energy projects to address all major challenges that Belize currently faces along the energy value chain with a major focus on renewable energy
Smart Metering: Designing projects to improve utilities revenue assurance and costs optimization
Agriculture: Implementing agriculture projects and programmes to:
- Reduce crop production cost outlays and increase profitability, and
- Share knowledge that can reduce the impact of climate change and support water and energy conservation.
ICT: Taking actions to promote Belize as an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) HUB, with highly educated human resources and competitive services.
Tourism Development: Connecting investors with desired investment opportunities across the value chain to drive tourism growth and provide a boost to overall social and economic development
Assets Digitalization: Leveraging the latest technologies to build economies of scale for FDI projects financed through wider access to equity from a number of small, medium and large FDI investors.
The Parties will establish a Joint Working Group (JWG) that will be responsible for the implementation of the MOU and comprise an agreed number of representatives from each Party.
The Joint Working Group will be responsible for the following activities under the MOU:
- Drafting and ensuring periodic work plans for implementation;
- Monitoring and evaluating activities;
- Producing and submitting reports to responsible Ministries;
- Regularly reviewing progress of the implementation of activities; and
- Keeping record of any activities undertaken by the Parties under the MOU.
The signing of the MOU comes at the close of the six-month-long World Expo, Expo 2020 Dubai in which Belize participated showcasing the country as an ideal destination for investments, business and leisure.
Signing on behalf of BELTRAIDE were Narda Garcia and Dr Leroy Almendarez. Signing on behalf of the office of His Highness were, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi and board member, Dr Marcin Lapa.
The parties also discussed possible dates for an initial visit to Belize by the Sheikh and his team.
During the visit to Dubai, UAE, the BELTRAIDE representatives also participated in the Caribbean Investment Forum and the annual investment meeting, which brought representatives from countries all over the world to discuss other opportunities for investments and trade.
