TOPIC+4+–+MARKET+CHALLENGES

= =  MARKET CHALLENGES IN BELIZE

Mike, Julianna, Jake, and Asha

TOPIC 4 – ** __MARKET CHALLENGES__ ** ** 1.  ****  Despite challenges, why should we trade with Belize? **  - The United States should trade with Belize because it is in close proximity, influences culture upon us, and has easy access to air and sea transportation. Some of Belize’s main exports are bananas, sugarcane, oil, flour, rice, beans, and petroleum gas which could be very beneficial to the United States. If the United States invests in Belize, we could get valuable resources for a substantially lower price while still helping Belize’s economical growth and development. 2. ** Define import license, interest rates, and price controls. **   - An __import license__ is a legal document issued by a national government allowing the importation of certain goods and services into its borders. -__Interest rate__ (usually used when borrowing money) is the rate that you have to pay for the use and time of the money. -__Price control__ is when the government assigns a certain price to a product so people can afford the necessities. 3. ** Select what you think are the 3 biggest challenges and describe each one. **   - One challenge that we find very important is that Belize is one of the smallest and least populated country in Central America which can be questionable about their products and exports because do they have enough land to farm and do they have enough employees to produce a final product? Another challenge of Belize is its limited amount of natural resources. Most of their exports consist of bananas and sugar and if no other country is willing to invest, Belize gets no profit and is forced to import more than they export to survive, which will eventually lead the nation into debt. Also, one of the biggest challenges, even stated by Belize’s Prime Minister, is the crime rate in Belize. Apparently, Belize has several threats and challenges going on. No one would want to start or invest their business in a country that is unsafe and dangerous; investors are not willing to take the risk. Sources (Web Addresses) [] [] We mostly used Ms. Garda’s link on Moodle to “Doing Business in Belize”. [] [] [] [] []