Investment in the Caribbean region is bringing together a unique coalition for Caribbean American Heritage Month this June, as the United States, China and the Caribbean unite for Invest Caribbean Now 2013.
The sold out Forum on June 5th at the Radisson Martinique Hotel in New York City, comes on the heels of U.S. President Joe Biden's Caribbean trip on May 28th for the signing of the United States – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, (TIFA) and the first visit to Trinidad & Tobago by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, which will take place from May 31 to June 2.
Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs at the Consulate of China in New York will headline a panel on China's growing interests in the Caribbean. Other panellists will include Jianxin Lin, chairman of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association, (ACCDA); and Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center, (CABDC). The Sino-American Friendship Association (SAFA) will present the panel, which will be supported by ACCDA and the CABDC and moderated by Martin Mohabeer, managing director of Spackman Group, a Hong-Kong based venture capital firm.
As well, Anthony Eterno, of the Office of Caribbean Affairs in the Western Hemisphere Division in the U.S. State Department, will discuss key issues regarding American investment in the Caribbean Additionally, US-based; Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd will discuss its investments in the Caribbean region before an audience that will include over a dozen Caribbean premiers and ministers of government.
In 2012, U.S. imports from Caribbean countries under the Caribbean Basin Initiative totaled more than $11 billion, representing a 178 percent increase over the past decade. U.S. exports equaled nearly $12 billion, representing a 133 percent increase over the past decade.
In 2011, China announced it would lend $6.3 billion to Caribbean governments, adding considerably to the hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, grants and other forms of economic assistance it has already channelled in the past decade.
Courtesy:CaribPR Wire
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