Caribbean, Chinese talk business in New York
Published:Wednesday | June 12, 2013 | 12:00 AM
As Caribbean governments seek new investors, the Chinese are urging them to capitalise on a business development and investment promotion trip to China coming up this fall.
The offer, which was made at the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum last Wednesday in New York comes days after China's president, Xi Jinping offered concessionary loans to nine Caribbean countries totalling US$3 billion.
"The Chinese private sectors are seeking opportunities in the Caribbean such as hospitality, real estate, health care and education industry, because they are easy to operate, are transparent and create jobs," said Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center, to a packed room that included two premiers, seven tourism ministers, high commissioners and hoteliers, at the Radisson Martinique in mid-town Manhattan.
EASY ACCESS to markets
Li, who presented on China and the Caribbean, along with her counterpart Jianxin Lin, chairman of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association, said the Caribbean located as it is in the centre of the Americas, provides the advantage of easy access to markets in the North, South and Central America and serves as a bridge to markets in Europe.
Citing statistics that said up to 100 million Chinese will be travelling abroad by 2015, Li said the Caribbean should target this key demographic, especially since the Chinese consumer works hard and has spending power.
And, "the Caribbean has garnered critical acclaim as a Mecca for tourism with significant investments in that and related sectors," she said.
The Chinese outbound travel market is forecast to hit US$590 billion by 2020.
"If the Caribbean gets one per cent of the 85 million Chinese tourists that currently travel overseas annually the region will be on the right path," Li told the forum.
Invest Caribbean Now founder, Felicia Persaud, urged regional governments to do more to "tell and sell" the diverse Caribbean investment story to the right people.
"We are relevant when 11 Caribbean nations are in the top 100 when it comes to ease of doing business but only seven for Latin America and eight for Africa," said Persaud at the forum.
"We are relevant when eight nations in the Caribbean are ranked in the top 100 fastest growing economies globally compared to 10 for Latin America as of 2012 ... and we are relevant when the world's richest man invests Caribbean."
Now in its third year, Invest Caribbean Now is a collaboration of HardBeat Communications and the Caribbean Tourism Organisation. The forum is staged annually during Caribbean Week in New York.