Belize

Belize is the northernmost country in Central America, and has a population of around 320,000.

In total, DFID has allocated £75 million for the Caribbean from 2011 until 2015. As part of this, Belize will benefit from our regional programmes to help the Caribbean prepare for and reduce the risk from climate change and natural disasters. We are helping governments integrate risk reduction into their policy and investment decisions. Knowing what problems they might face will make it easier for them to make a case for action, mobilise resources to scale up their efforts and ensure development gains are not lost. We are also developing affordable insurance for small businesses and farmers to protect their assets and livelihoods when disaster strikes.

We work closely with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, which is based in Belize.

Caribbean leaders have stated their intention to move towards low carbon economies as quickly as possible. Currently, the Caribbean depends on imported petroleum and petroleum products to meet over 90% of its energy needs and energy prices are among the highest in the world (in the Eastern Caribbean, more than double those in the US or UK for example). Energy demand in the region is expected to double in the next 20 years. Fuel imports are already expensive and energy prices are a source of economic vulnerability and constraint to growth, particularly for small and medium enterprises. Power production is also a source of greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change. We will therefore increase the use of renewable energy by supporting innovative low-carbon small and medium business enterprises and social enterprises including one in Belize:

• Optimisation of the energy efficiency of a bagasse co-generation project, GSR Energy Limited, Belize

In line with its aim of reducing poverty, DFID is also contributing from its regional budget to three major programmes designed to create jobs and increase exports across the Caribbean:

• £10 million for the COMPETE Caribbean scheme, delivered jointly with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Canadian International Development Agency, which will reduce red tape, streamline regulation, and help local firms break into new markets
• £10 million for CARTFund, a special fund to help Caribbean countries and their own regional integration initiative, CSME (the CARICOM Single Market and Economy) take advantage of a trade deal with the European Union.  CARTFund helps in testing for product standards and provides support to the tourism, speciality foods and accounting sectors
• £4 million contribution to CARTAC, the IMF regional technical assistance mission. This provides advice and training for all English-speaking countries in macroeconomic management, monetary and taxation policy, statistics and debt management.

In Belize, COMPETE is helping companies to be more competitive by revising the taxation system and streamlining the process for import licensing. It is also restructuring Belize's investment and trade promotion agency, BELTRAIDE.

CARTFund is carrying out three projects that are helping Belize to increase its exports:

• supporting the government to implement the European trade deal and to strengthen economic links with the rest of the Caribbean;
• developing an export strategy; and
• helping service industries to organise themselves into a national coalition  so that they can sell more services both domestically and in export markets.
  

Through the Inter-American Development Bank, we have also helped Belize develop a strategy for using development assistance to foster increased trade.

The UK also contributes to multilateral organisations that carry out a wide range of projects and programmes in Belize. In 2010/11, such contributions amounted to £3,514,000.