U.S. and Chinese investors are being urged to "open their wallets" to investment opportunities in the Turks & Caicos Islands.
The call to action came from the Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing and his finance minister, C. Washington Misick, at the 2013 Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum held in New York City on June 5, 2013.
Dr. Ewing shared several opportunities currently available for investment in the TCI as well as expansion and infrastructure enhancements planned by his Progressive National Party government.
These include the expansion of the Providenciales International Airport; the Caicos Causeway Project that will stretch from Providenciales to South Caicos; the development of College Park catering for medical, trade and hospitality schools and the establishment of technology parks on the island as part of a Software Development Economic Special Zone.
The Premier and Minister Misick also disclosed opportunities for the development of AP/EP branded hotels of quality on the island to boost the island's hotel room stock; yachting tourism via marina development; a deep water port among several others.
Other speakers and presenters at the Avalon ICN 2013 included Felicia Persaud, founder of Invest Caribbean Now and CMO at Hard Beat Communications; Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Commissioner of tourism of the USVI, Beverly Nicholson Doty; Alan Loewenstein, managing partner of Wedgewood Investment Group; Miguel Reyna, director, Port Business Development and Asset Management, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.; Heather Flossiac of Belle Vue Properties of St. Lucia; E. Jay Saunders, CEO of Digicel TCI; Brian Lilly, founder of One Caribbean Television and Ganesh Ramanathan, creative director at Hard Beat Communications;
Dr. Grace Lappin of Avalon Partners, Inc. and Arthur Piccolo of the Bowling Green Association.
Private sector attendees included representatives from JP Morgan Chase, Nomura, Aegis Capital, Merrill Lynch, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd, Frontier Markets Capital, Ltd.; Waterloo Investments Holdings Ltd.; RBC Merchant Bank Caribbbean; efm Hospitality; CIBC World Markets; RBC Royal Bank and Ibis Investments among others.
Over twelve dozen delegates attended the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum at the Radisson Martinique Hotel in mid-town, Manhattan, including Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing and his Minister of Finance C. Washington Misick; Minister of Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt; Minister for Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia, Lorne Theophilus; Minister of Tourism Nevis, Mark Brantley; Minister of Tourism of Antigua & Barbuda, John Maginley; Minister of Tourism, Sports & Culture, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Cecil McKie; Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation, Tobago; Nicolaas Sneek, Commissioner, St. Eustacius; Minister of Tourism of The Bahamas, Obie Wilchcombe and Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and Commissioner of the United States Virgin Islands, Beverly Nicholson Doty.; Parliamentary Secretary of Tourism of Anguilla, Haydn Hughes; Juliana Johan-Boodram, Permanent Secretary of Trinidad & Tobago's Ministry of Tourism and Russell Harrigan, chairman of the Board of Directors of the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board.
Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean International copped the prestigious "ICN Corporate Leadership Award" for 2013 for it's over $200,000,000 investments in the Caribbean region in the past 10 years.
Invest Caribbean Now is the brain child of Felicia Persaud and is now in its third year.
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