BELTRAIDE begins new female entrepreneurship website

Belize: The Belize Trade-Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE), which enables and facilitates innovative and competitive business development, is proud to announced the launch of a newly designed mentorship website called Female Entrepreneurship Website on April 1, 2021.

The website is intended primarily for women, as a part of Belize’s first Female Entrepreneurship Program, which was inaugurated in May 2019 with support from the Regional Center for the Promotion of Micro and Small Enterprises (CENPROMYPE).

The website promotes women entrepreneurship in an organized and welcoming network that strengthens abilities, creates business prospects and provides mentoring programs to develop their entrepreneurial skills. 

The mentors will assist women in making well-informed and strategic decisions to position and enhance their competitiveness. Women in attendance at the launch today shared stories of their entrepreneurial journey and participated in a panel discussion on Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 World.

Mrs Narda Garcia, the new Chair of BELTRAIDE, said, “This platform secures our commitment to the success of the women of Belize and allows for the advancement of the Belize Female Mentorship Network as we focus. On the success, challenges, and experience of our women entrepreneurs.”

Apart from providing a mentorship network for women, the website will also host capacity-building workshops, teaching courses and business promotion opportunities. Interested partners are encouraged to explore the website and sign up to become mentors or mentees by visiting https://femaleentrepreneurs.bz/.

Besides, In addition to her previous work at the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr Barnett has also worked across the CARICOM region during her roles as an economist, later as vice president (operations) at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and as a consultant to development agencies working in the Caribbean. 

In Belize, Dr Barnett has been deputy governor of the Central Bank of Belize and was the financial secretary during Belize’s first successful debt restructuring in 2007. Under the previous administration, Dr Barnett was vice president of the Senate and a minister of state in the Ministry of Finance.

Commenting on her vision for CARICOM, Dr Barnett said that she sees “a CARICOM that the ordinary woman and man will defend because they feel the impact in their daily lives through economic and social advancement that comes from Community action.”

Dr Barnett also stated that the Community should never be afraid to re-strategize, as it is now doing when the needs are so great, and the resources are so scarce. She said, “The pandemic is forcing us to recalibrate and set new priorities for regional development. ‘Do more with less’ has new meaning for all of us. 

This does not mean less effective work. Indeed, increased incorporation of information and communication technology into our work provides opportunities for greater productivity and CARICOM citizens to be much more involved in the strengthening of Regional integration well into the future, beyond COVID.”

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