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The Ministry of Economic Development, Petroleum, Investment, Trade, and Commerce
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SBDCBelize provides customized needs-
based services to Micro, Small, and Medi-
um-sized Enterprises, in order to facilitate
competitiveness and export readiness.
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BTEC develops a cadre of well trained,
marketable, and self-sufficient individuals to
be able to confidently compete in the market-
place by providing effective, demand-driven,
user-friendly, and value-based programs that
develop, deliver, and sustain a quality workforce.
According to Taegar-Panton, her Ministry fo-
cuses on six priority investment industries:
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Tourism & Leisure –Tourism contributes
approximately 40 percent of the country’s yearly
GDP (USD $655 million), with approximately
three fourths of its tourists coming from the
U.S. and Canada. According to the National
Tourism Master Plan, by 2030, the country ex-
pects approximately 556,000 overnight arrivals
per year with an average length of stay of over
8 days. Opportunities for investment include
ecotourism, cruise tourism, nautical tourism, and
medical tourism. Thus, the country is looking to
expand its cruise and commercial sea ports and
its airports.
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Agri-Business & Agro-Processing–Belize
continues to ramp up and diversify its export
basket. Belize continues to export a greater
share of its agricultural commodities, such as
sugar, citrus, bananas, grains, cacao, cotton, co-
conut oil, and vegetable extracts, among other
value-added products. Currently, agribusiness
contributes approximately 10.4 percent of GDP
with a continued growth trajectory.
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Fisheries & Aquaculture –Contributing 3.0
percent of GDP, Belize capture species include:
spiny lobster, queen conch, sea cucumber, and
finfish. Its culture species include: Pacific white
shrimp, Nile tilapia, and cobia all of which are
currently consumed locally and exported to
various regional markets. Additional areas of
investment opportunity also include: snapper,
grouper, red drum, and octopus. Belize’s main
markets include the U.S, Canada, Asia, Europe,
Mexico, Guatemala, and the CARICOM countries.
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Offshore Outsourcing - These include: Busi-
ness Process Outsourcing (BPO), Information
Technology Outsourcing (ITO), and Knowledge
Process Outsourcing (KPO). Today, Belize has
over 20 outsourcing operations, employing over
2,500 people. Its strengths include: a modern
telecom infrastructure; a young, bilingual work-
force; competitive salaries; strong government
support; incentive programs; and international
connectivity with direct flights to multiple des-
tinations in the U.S., Canada as well as Central