President Obama and Belize!

Two recent events relating to US President Obama underline the growing importance of Belize. One is his desire to visit Belize expressed at the Summit of the Americas dinner in Port of Spain. Belize’s Prime Minister Dean Barrow seems to have established a good rapport with the President at the summit and he quoted the latter as expressing his wish to visit Belize. President Obama is photographed welcoming the Prime Minister’s wife, Kim Simplis-Barrow in the accompany photo. The visit will be further facilitated by the recent appointment of the President’s friend as the U.S. ambassador to Belize.

Vinai Thummalapally, apparently a very good friend of President Obama, was recently appointed as the ambassador to Belize. Ambassador Thummalapally was a college mate & close confidante of the President for a many years. He is a mechanical engineer by qualification and was president of MAMA Inc, a maker and distributor of recordable optical disks. He formally presented his credentials to Governor General of Belize, Sir Colville Young and also paid a courtesy call to the Foreign Affairs Minister,Wilfred Elrington, last September at Belmopan, Belize’s capital city.

The fact that President Obama has chosen one of his close confidantes as ambassador to Belize can only help raise the profile of Belize and his future visit to Belize will no doubt attract international media attention and put Belize firmly on the world’s tourist map. Exposure like this is great for all investors in Belize.

Chris

Sun Spots

Hi everyone!  I hope that this posting finds you well.

I was recently speaking with the people at Sanctuary Bay and the project is proceeding very well.  They just released the updated Master Plan for the community which can be found at www.sanctuarybay.com/docs.  I'll be blogging more about the Master Plan later in the week, but I wanted to pass along an article from the the April 27th edition of Canadian Business magazine which I recently stumbled upon.  The article describes some of the great investment opportunities in South America, Central America, and the Caribbean; including Belize.  I thought that some of you may find this article helpful and wanted to pass it along.  

Sun Spots - By Ayah Victoria McKhail

Canadian Business, April 27, 2009 Edition

Despite plummeting real estate prices worldwide, not everyone's willing to give up on this traditional investment. Some are setting their sights down south, buying up properties in popular hot spots such as Belize .... 

Link to full article:

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/managing/strategy/article.jsp?content=20090427_16702_16702

The Financial Post Reports That "Life's a Beach In Belize"!

In October (2008) the Financial Post ran a great article on Belize called "Life's a Beach In Belize".  It includes an insightful recap on the following:

1. Belize's history (nice and concise)

2. Overview of it's eco-tourism industry

3. A snap-shot of some celebrities who have decided to invest in Belize

4. Insight into the real estate market

5. Overview of retirement programs

It's definently worth the read if you have already invested in Sanctuary Bay or if you are considering it.  

Cheer,

Chris

Two weeks ... but the blog is now live!

On December 13th the Ottawa Citizen newspaper ran a story on my family’s Belize endeavour and in the story I made reference to the fact that I would be launching a blog.  I think I mentioned to Sheila, the journalist who interviewed me, that I would be launching the blog in late January.  As I look at my Blackberry I realize that it’s Feb 16^th, 2009 so I’m a few weeks late with the launch -- but here it goes!

Tada!  The blog is intended for anyone interested in following the development of Sanctuary Bay and I hope that current and potential owners find value in the blog as well as anyone who has a general interest in Belize and these types of real estate endeavours.

To make sure that I’m delivering valuable information I plan to gather project updates from Sanctuary Bay, reach out to other owners and understand their plans for their land, share research on living in Belize, and providing summaries of general events in Belize.  To help make this blog relevant to you I’d really like to hear your thoughts and comments on my postings.  Please feel free to leave comments or email me (christopher@digital-endeavor.com). 

Cheers,

Chris