Caribbean to talk business in Cancun

Cancun Forum 2016

Now, Mexico woos ‘The Great Caribbean’ to talk business in Cancun

Latin American investors are bent on boosting business ties in the Caribbean, with companies in two major business capitals looking to forge new and better, stronger and deeper ties with their smaller Hemispheric neighbours to the south.

Hot on the heels of the announcement of a visit to Saint Lucia in November by a Brazilian investment mission interested in doing business in the Eastern Caribbean, Mexico says it too has plans to talk and do business with the wider Caribbean in November – but, in Mexico.

The Brazilian mission, being coordinated by a private Brazilian entity, Nomad Development, is due in Saint Lucia from November 11 to 17. It will bring 15 investors and parliamentarians to the island to discuss a wide range of business opportunities.

The Embassy of Brazil in Saint Lucia is assisting in the preparations for the mission and Ambassador Sergio Couri says “Investments can be direct or joint, private and/or public.”
The Brazilians are interested in projects ranging from tourism and construction to alternative energy and agriculture.

But while the Brazilians are heading to the Caribbean, the Mexicans have arranged the opposite: to invite Caribbean investors to talk and do business in Cancun.

The Embassy of Mexico to the Eastern Caribbean States (based in Saint Lucia) has announced that the 2016 Cancun Forum “Creating Synergies to Strengthen the Competitiveness of the Greater Caribbean” will be held November 16-18 at the Peninsula Convention Center in Cancun, Mexico.

The embassy says, “This event is regarded in Mexico as the most important business forum in the Greater Caribbean and is designed to foster regional economic development and competitiveness by increasing trade and investment flows.”

The Cancun forum, it adds, “also seeks to promote Mexican exports and investment, and explore potential value chains within the Caribbean region.”

According to the Mexican embassy, “The central activity of the Cancun Forum is a business round where Mexican exporters and buyers from the Greater Caribbean countries have the opportunity to make contact and start business relationships.”

The program also includes “business seminars and workshops on the main challenges and opportunities for the region.”
But the Brazilians won’t be the only overseas businesses heading to Saint Luci in November. The Taiwanese are coming too – and yet again.

The Taiwan Embassy to Saint Lucia and the island’s Commerce Ministry have also announced the 9th Annual Saint Lucia-Taiwan Partnership Trade Show, to be held at The Johnson Centre, Rodney Bay, Gros Islet from November 25 to 27.
The embassy says the show “will highlight a wide range of quality goods and services from Saint Lucia and Taiwan” and will also “afford businesses from both countries the opportunity to develop trading and networking alliances.”
The Taiwanese businesses participating in the trade show will also be seeking agents for retail of their products in Saint Lucia.