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Belize - Warming Up To A Jurisdiction

By John Dietz - Email Editor

Date: Aug 01, 2006

On a recent visit to Belize, I had the opportunity to visit the interior of the country. Most people that go to a place like Belize end up diving in the coral reefs off the coast of Ambergris Caye (pronounced - key). While the reef is spectacular, the interior of Belize holds beautiful mountains, incredible soil for growing just about everything, medicinal rain forests, and pristine lowlands. The roads are safe to drive; no police looking for bribes; and except for some wash outs and a little off-road 4-wheeling in the rainy season, the roadside scenery is spectacular. Typically, places like Placencia, found in the southern part of the country, are only visited by the Hollywood types, taking their respite in Francis Ford Coppola's sure to impress resort, Turtle Inn, which is just one of his three fabulous resorts in the region.

Of course tourism is not why I visited; the reason was because Belize has great trust laws, a stable government, and a well-run banking system. This former British colony, where English is the first language, is surrounded by Spanish speaking Latin America and is keenly aware of its position in the world. After a delightful meeting with The International Financial Services Commission, I am fully convinced Belize is on a fast track to becoming one of the best jurisdictions for years to come.

Meeting with government officials can be an interesting affair; one never knows what to expect. After all the business meetings were adjourned, one of the high-ranking government officials on the other side of the table asked, in a congenial manner, "What do you REALLY think of Belize?" To me, the manner in which he asked the question is more important than the answer. It proved that this government official has deep feelings about the status and the direction of his country, and a genuine care and concern about the state of affairs. WOW, enough said.

I believe this reflects what's important about Belize as a jurisdictional choice, i.e. good legislation makes for a good jurisdiction; but good legislation with good people makes for a GREAT jurisdiction.

So, is there anything wrong with Belize? Nothing's perfect. They are experiencing some of the same growth hurtles that the U.S. did in the 80's with regards to phone companies and isolationism. On the 26th of April, Belize Telephone (BTL) decided to block Vonage/Skype and any other peer-to-peer packets, asserting that the use of the various services by consumers is illegal under its present license. A couple of weeks ago the Belize Public Utilities Commission issued its voice-over Internet protocol guidelines. I believe Belize Telephone (BTL) and the powers that be are very concerned about keeping pace with the rest of the civilized world, and we can only assume compromises will be made.

Belize is home to hundreds of ancient Maya temples and a melting pot of many different cultures. With 40 percent of its landmass under some type of protection and massive tracts of protected rainforest, Belize will be a tropical paradise for many generations to come.

Is Belize Perfect?

No, but from my vantage point, Belize's future looks bright. Next week we will get into some of the specifics relating to Belize as a jurisdictional choice.

Until next time,

John

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