A Stage Set on Ambergris Caye

By:  Omar Silva I Editor/Publisher

National Perspective Belize – Digital 2025

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Friday 5th September 2025: Since 2021, San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, has played host to Belize’s biennial Investment Summit. Branded with themes like “Open for Business”, “Endless Opportunities”, and now “Bridging Markets, Building Resilience”, the summits are dressed as high-profile gateways to foreign direct investment.

Every two years, international keynote speakers—former prime ministers, presidents, and business magnates—share the stage with Belizean officials. The government trumpets these gatherings as proof that Belize is a serious player in the global investment market.

But beneath the glossy brochures and polished presentations, the record is clear: three summits in, Belize has little to show in terms of transformative investments.

Tourism Still Dominates

The pattern is unmistakable. The so-called major deals announced at these summits are almost always tourism-related: new resorts, luxury hotels, and expansions of the hospitality sector.

Tourism has its place. It employs thousands and contributes significantly to GDP. But it is also seasonal, fragile, and dependent on foreign arrivals. More importantly, it cannot serve as the foundation for true economic independence.

Where are the factories? Where are the agro-processing hubs? Where are the manufacturing plants that could move Belize up the value chain? The silence speaks volumes.

Concessions, Not Industrialization

Investors who appear at the Summit are offered duty-free status, tax holidays, and concessionary treatment. In return, Belize gets little beyond low- to mid-wage jobs, maintenance costs, and the promise of trickle-down benefits.

Meanwhile, the bulk of profits are spirited abroad to foreign banks. The Investment Summit, for all its fanfare, has become a platform for extractive, not transformative, investments.

Santander’s Refinery: A Convenient Poster-boy

The most significant industrial project now on Belize’s horizon is the $20 million Caribbean Sugar Refinery, a joint venture between Santander Sugar Limited and Sucro Ltd. Scheduled to begin operations in 2026, it promises to supply refined sugar to both domestic and regional markets and potentially export further abroad.

Yet, let us be clear: this refinery is not a product of the 2025 Investment Summit. Negotiations for this project have been underway for years. The MOU signed in September 2025 merely formalized what was already on track.

Still, the Briceno Administration has quickly adopted the project as its poster boy for industrial progress, holding it up as proof that the Summit is delivering. The reality? This refinery was born out of private negotiations, not summit speeches.

Blue Economy Deals and Donor Funds

Another headline item is the World Bank’s $32 million Blue Cities and Beyond Project. Important, yes—but this is public sector financing, not private investment secured by the Summit.

When the government points to such financing as evidence of Summit success, it only underscores the lack of real industrial deals struck on the stage in San Pedro.

A Glossy Fair Every Two Years

So, what, then, is the Summit? It has become little more than a networking fair dressed up as national achievement. A biennial parade of international speakers, staged photo-ops, and press releases that fade into silence once the lights go down.

Belize does not need another showcase on Ambergris Caye. What it needs is genuine investment in agro-processing, manufacturing, renewable energy, and digital services—the sectors that build economic independence and create wealth that stays in the country.

The Verdict

After three editions, the Belize Investment Summit has failed to deliver on its core promise. Tourism dominates, concessions flow, industries remain absent.

Santander’s refinery and the World Bank’s Blue Economy funding are being paraded as Summit victories, but in truth, they stand outside of it.

Belize must ask itself: why spend millions every two years on glossy showcases when what we really need are policies, incentives, and strategies that drive industrialization?

Until that question is answered, the Belize Investment Summit will remain what it has always been—a poster show of promises, not the birthplace of progress.