CaribPR Wire

Hon. Jeanne Rogers-Vanterpool, President of the Office of Tourism of Saint Martin, made the disclosure to delegates gathered at the elite invitation only Invest Caribbean Now conference, held on the island from September 24-25th. (ICN image)

Carib PR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Sept. 29, 2015: The French Caribbean island of Saint-Martin is seeking to give its economy a shot in the arm with the expansion of two major port projects in the next few years.

Hon. Jeanne Rogers-Vanterpool, President of the Office of Tourism of Saint Martin made the disclosure to delegates gathered at the elite invitation only Invest Caribbean Now conference, held on the island from September 24-25^th.

The Government of the Collectivité of French Saint-Martin, she said, will be seeking to implement The Marigot Bay Development Project and The Galisbay Port Development Project as its works towards its overall goal – the revitalization of its capital, Marigot.

The Galisbay Commercial Port project will see the expansion of the port as a trans-shipment hub while the Marigot Bay Development Project is aimed to expand the port as a major hub for cruise ship docks and mega yacht marina and the creation of a conference hotel, residences and shops on the water front of Marigot.

Invest Caribbean Now 2015, now in its fifth year, kicked off on September 24^th in Terres Basses with an extravagant reception and dinner at Villa Mes Aimes for foreign and local delegates. It continued on Friday, September 25th with the conference at the Chamber of Commerce building in Concordia where the spotlight was put squarely on tourism investment opportunities in the French Caribbean Island. It was the first time ICN had taken its conference overseas.

The event featured several local government officials including Senator Guillaume Arnell; Hon. Jeanne Rogers-Vanterpool, and Vice-president of Economic Development Wendel Cocks, harbour developers as well as several local stake holders and over three dozen Beijing company executives.

ICN’s Felicia J. Persaud, ICN’s founder and CEO, thanked Saint Martin for welcoming the conference to its shores and urged the government to continue to work on creative “private – public sector partnerships.”

“We must move beyond petty politics and arrogant perceived power and understand that our growth as an island – and as a region – is tied to relationship building globally – whether in the Caribbean Diaspora, the US, China, Europe, Africa or other areas around the world,” Persaud said. “The competitive nature of the global market place demands such action and we cannot be left behind in 2015. We must think global and act global!”

The summit this year made history in the North-East Caribbean with the attendance of a delegation of over 40-Beijing companies and organizations.

Part of the audience at ICN 2015. (ICN image)

Speakers from the Chinese delegation included Qin, Guoying, Secretary-General of China Women’s Development Foundation; Xiong, Yumei, Executive President of the China Women Tourism Committee; Zheng, Yaoxing, Dean Of The Tourism Department, Fujian Normal University And Strait Tourism College; Yin, Zhijun, Chairman, The Beijing Lao She Teahouse Co., Ltd, Guo, LiFeng, CEO, BESTONE Jewelry Company and Li Li,   The Executive Director Of The Sino-American Friendship Association.

The 2015 event was presented by the Government of the Collectivité of French Saint-Martin, The Office of Tourism of Saint-Martin and executives at Invest Caribbean Now (ICN), in collaboration with the Sino-American Friendship Association, the Chinese American Business Development Center of New York, the  St-Martin Harbor, Hard Beat Communications, One Caribbean Television, the St. Maarten Chinese Association, CaribPRWire and News Americas Now.

ABOUT SAINT MARTIN

The Collectivité of French Saint Martin is located in the northeast Caribbean, approximately 300 km (190 mi) southeast of Puerto Rico and shares the 37 square mile island with Sint Maarten, a country within the Dutch Kingdom.  The Collectivité offers low rates of taxation for investors; exemption from property tax for five years for new commercial premises and reduced transfer tax on the acquisition of land for the purposes of priority activities.

ABOUT INVEST CARIBBEAN NOW

Felicia J. Persaud, ICN’s founder and CEO.

Invest Caribbean Now (ICN) is the definitive private sector investment agency of the Caribbean. It is based in America’s financial capital of the world, New York City. Now in its fifth year, ICN is the brainchild of Caribbean-born media entrepreneur, Felicia J. Persaud and is owned by Hard Beat Communications, Inc.

Invest Caribbean Now promotes and pushes for the right investment opportunities in the Caribbean region; offers a concierge service for high end investors seeking to make the right connection with key opportunities, governments and other parties in any Caribbean destination and connects small entrepreneurs in the Diaspora with SME micro loans.

For more see investcaribbeannow.com.

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SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

High Res images available: [email protected]

718-476-3616

Premier & Minister of Finance & Tourism of The British Virgin Islands, Dr. Orlando Smith; Minister of Tourism, St. Martin, Jeanne Rogers-Vanderpool; Minister of Economic Affairs, Curacao, Stanley Palm met with Cao, Pengcheng, Vice Chairman, Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development on Tuesday June 3rd ahead of the Summit at a dinner organized by ICN's Felicia J. Persaud and Li Li of the Sino American Friendship Association.

Carib PR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. June 4, 2014: A veritable list of ‘Who’s Who’ from around the globe and across the U.S. will gather at the prestigious Harvard Club in New York City today for the biggest investment summit on the Caribbean outside the region, Invest Caribbean Now, (ICN).

Among the top list of delegates will be Dr. Ma Lin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government, who is leading a delegation from China to ICN 2014.

Top Caribbean dignitaries will also be in attendance at the event, including Premier & Minister of Finance & Tourism of The British Virgin Islands, Dr. Orlando Smith; Premier of the island of Nevis; Vance Amory; Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism for the Cayman Islands, Moses Kirkconnell; Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications of Trinidad & Tobago, Senator Vasant Bharath; Minister of Tourism And International Transport, St. Kitts, Senator Ricky Skerritt; Minister of Tourism, St. Martin, Jeanne Rogers-Vanderpool; Minister of Economic Affairs, Curacao, Stanley Palm; Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Commissioner of Tourism, USVI Department of Tourism, Beverly Nicholson Doty; Grenada’s Ambassador to the United States Angus Friday; Ambassador of the Bahamas to the UN, Dr Elliston Rahming; Chairman of the CARICOM Consular Corps of NY and Deputy Consul General, Antigua & Barbuda, Omyma David; and Consul General of St. Lucia to New York, Julian DuBois.

Representing the Governor of the State of New York will be Claire McLeveighn, Vice President, Trade and Investment International Division, at the Empire State Development Corporation while investment and corporate representatives will come from a variety of sectors including finance, medical tourism and clean energy.

They include Janine Craane, managing director and global institutional consultant, Merrill Lynch; Qahir Dhanani, Private Sector Development Specialist, the World Bank Group; Diana Jensen, Senior Manager, Renewable Energy at the US’ Overseas Private Investment Corporation; Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, Chairman of Sandals Resorts International; top executives from DHL Caribbean, HBO Latin America, One Caribbean Television, First Citizens TT and interCaribbean Airways; Mark Austin, Venture Partner, Bright Capital; Valence Williams, Aegis Capital; Woody Wilson founder of Woody Wilson Fine Clothing of Beverly Hills; Colin Childress, CEO/Founder, Global Med Choices, Turks & Caicos; Dr. Paul Angelchik, Founder and CEO, American World Clinic; Donna G. Miller, Founder, Life Guard International – FlyingICU/Fixed Wing Air Ambulance; Raul Slavin of  Aspenall Energies; Jacques-Philippe Piverger of MPowered and moderator Justin Locke of Sir Richard Branson’s, Carbon War Room; Patrick Goodness, CEO, The Goodness Company, Costa Rica; Larry Lee, President, China Daily USA; Anthony Phills, branding specialist of Disney’s Million Dollar Arm and of the Caribbean Commerce Magazine; Richard Nixon, NATCOM International and past Chargé d’ Affaires at Embassy of Grenada to China; Brian Lilly, Founder, One Caribbean Television as well as the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and the Allied African Nations Chamber Of Commerce.

Top Caribbean Diaspora organizations from the U.S. and Canada will also be in attendance including Pauline Christian, President of the Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) Dr Leroy Clarke, President and Executive Chair of e-CAMP Mentoring; Dr Marlyn Morris and the entire team from the Caribbean Council on economic Development (CCFED); The West Indian American Day Carnival Association, The Caribbean Immigrant Services and the Society for the Advancement of the Diaspora.

“Advancing Wealth” is the theme of the fourth edition of the New York Summit, founded in 2011 by Hard Beat Communications CMO, Felicia J. Persaud.

For more log on to ICN’s summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com. This year’s Summit will be live tweeted at twitter.com/InvestingCarib using #investingcarib. Additionally fans can follow the summit at Facebook or facebook.com/investcaribbeannow

ICN PARTNERS

Presenters for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the World Tourism Cities Federation, China Daily, InvesTT, the Chinese Business Development Center, the Sino-American Friendship Association, Martinique Promotion Bureau- CMT USA,  CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, the Jamaica Observer, CaribSeek, WINN-FM and GCaribbean Magazine.

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

[email protected]

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. May 27, 2014: “Advancing Wealth” is the theme of the fourth edition of the New York Summit, Invest Caribbean Now, the biggest investment forum on the Caribbean outside the region, set for June 4, 2014 at the prestigious Harvard Club of New York.

Now in its fourth year, the Summit brings together heads of state and ministers of governments, private sector leaders from around the world including China, Russia, Africa and the United States, NGOs and investors to network and focus on the varied opportunities in the Caribbean.

Invest Caribbean Now 2014 will focus on transformation: unlocking the competitiveness of the Caribbean economy through alliances while focusing on new and innovative engines of growth that can increase the region’s bottom line, its infrastructure and its human capital.

The summit will do this through several panels beginning with the ‘Global Trends & The Caribbean’ panel featuring  Janine Craane, Managing Director and Global Institutional Consultant, Merrill Lynch; Ambassador Jamie Vargas; Sergio Millian, President of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce; Anthony A. L. Adjasse, President / CEO, Allied African Nations Chamber Of Commerce; Larry Lee, President, China Daily and moderator Valence Williams, Vice President of AEGIS Capital; as well as the’ Bejing-Caribbean Tourism And Investment Opportunity’ panel featuring Dr. Ma, Lin   Deputy Secretary-General of Beijing Municipal Government; Cao, Pengcheng, Vice Chairman, Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development, Li Li, managing director, China American Business Development Center, Richard Nixon, NATCOM International and past Chargé d’ Affaires at Embassy of Grenada to China and moderator Arthur Piccolo, Chairman, New Sports Group/Bowling Green Association.

Additionally, the first half of the event will include a keynote address by Harvard graduate Dr. Isaac J. Newton, of Paramount Communications Consultancy; a spotlight on specific investment opportunities in  Trinidad & Tobago with  Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications, Vasant Bharath; an investment announcement on the Caribbean Market Village of  St. Lucia and a focus on ‘Advancing Wealth In The Caribbean With Technology’ with Trinidad-born, LA resident, Anthony Wellington Phills, branding specialist of Disney’s ‘Million Dollar Arm’ and founder of Caribbean Commerce Magazine/Media, Calypso Cloud and Blinglet Inc.

The early afternoon session will focus on two new sectors that can empower Caribbean economies using its abundant sun, sea and sand natural resources. Colin Childress, CEO/Founder, Global Med Choices, Turks & Caicos; Dr. Paul Angelchik, Founder and CEO, American World Clinic; Donna G. Miller, Founder/President/CEO, Life Guard International – FlyingICU/Fixed Wing Air Ambulance; Patrick Goodness, CEO, The Goodness Company, Costa Rica and moderator Christopher Chaplin, Vice-President, Invest Caribbean Now/Hard Beat Communications, Inc., will discuss how the region can grow its economy with medical tourism  while Ambassador Angus Friday, Grenada’s Ambassador to the US; ‎Diana Jensen, Senior Manager, Renewable Energy at the US’ Overseas Private Investment Corporation; Mark Austin, Venture Partner, Bright Capital; Raul Slavin of  Aspenall Energies; Jacques-Philippe Piverger of MPowered and moderator Justin Locke of Sir Richard Branson’s, Carbon War Room will focus on how governments can save on their energy bills by switching to clean energy.

ICN 2014 will conclude summit discussions with a focus on  ‘The Caribbean Diaspora as A Real Source For Investment’ with  Qahir Dhanani, Private Sector Development Specialist, the World Bank Group; Leigh Moran, Program Manager, International Diaspora Engagement Alliance” or “IdEA;” Brian Lilly, Founder, One Caribbean Television; Dr.  Marlyn Morris, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Caribbean Council For Economic Development and Irwine Clare, Advisory Board Member, Jamaica Diaspora USA, NE & CEO, Caribbean Immigrant Services and a special announcement and sneak peak at his tropical collection with Woody Wilson of Beverly Hills, designer to stars like Brad Pitt.

This year’s Invest Caribbean Now will wrap up with a high powered networking reception that will include remarks by Hollywood actor Malik Yoba, the exciting presentation of the ICN Leadership Award to Hon. Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, OJ, CD, Hon. LLD, Chairman of Sandals Resorts International and the presentation of corporate awards to DHL Caribbean, HBO Latin America, One Caribbean Television, First Caribbean and interCaribbean Airways.

For more log on to ICN’s summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com. This year’s Summit will be live tweeted at twitter.com/InvestingCarib using #investingcarib. Additionally fans can follow the summit at Facebook or facebook.com/investcaribbeannow

ICN PARTNERS

Presenters for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the World Tourism Cities Federation, China Daily, InvesTT, the Chinese Business Development Center, the Sino-American Friendship Association, Martinique Promotion Bureau- CMT USA,  CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, the Jamaica Observer, CaribSeek, WINN-FM and GCaribbean Magazine.

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

[email protected]

Mr. Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs of the Consulate General of China in New York addressing delegates at Invest Caribbean Now 2013. (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. May 19, 2014: A top level delegation comprising of officials from the Beijing government, the World Tourism Cities Federation, as well as the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development and China Daily, will travel to New York this June 4^th for the biggest global investment summit on the Caribbean outside the region, Invest Caribbean Now, (ICN).

The delegation is being brought to ICN by partnering groups, The Chinese American Business Development Center of New York and The Sino-American Friendship Association, and will include Dr. Ma, Lin, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government with responsibility for science, information technology, tourism, software development, education in Beijing and Mr. Cao, PengChen, vice chairman of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development.

Invest Caribbean Now is set for June 4th, 2014 from 11:30 a.m. at the prestigious Harvard Club in New York City where the topics for discussion will include a focus on “Beijing-Caribbean Tourism and Investment Opportunities.”

The Chinese American Business Development Center of New York and its managing director, Li Li, began collaborating with Hard Beat Communications, the producers of the annual investment summit last year. The 2014 Summit will mark an expansion on that collaboration that will include not only the arrival of the Chinese delegation to the New York Summit but a two-nation Caribbean trade mission to the Caribbean later this year.

Nearly every island in the Caribbean, from the smallest up, currently has a substantial investment from China.  In 2009, China pledged US$7 billion in foreign direct investment to the region. According to recent tourism statistics, approximately 55 million Chinese traveled internationally in 2010, spending an estimated amount of US$42 billion – three times the 18 million overnight visitors from around the globe that the Caribbean attracted that year. The Boston Consulting Group predicts that by 2020, outbound travel from China will be worth US$590 billion so many Caribbean nations are anxious to obtain a piece of that pie.

This year’s fourth Invest Caribbean Now summit will also feature numerous global professional investors, entrepreneurs and business leaders including from the World Bank Group, OPIC, Merrill Lynch, Aegis Capital, the International diaspora Engagement Alliance, (IdEA); InvesTT, Sandals International Resorts, Sir Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room; One Caribbean Television, China Daily, First Citizens TT; HBO Latin America, interCaribbean Airways; DHL Caribbean, Tia Properties, American CryoStem Corporation, Lugano Group, Damoola, Island Global Yachting, Blocadi Capital, Bright Capital, MPowered, Aspenall Energies, K&L Gates, Global Med Choices, American World Clinics, The Goodness Company and Paramount Communications.

Also attending will be Hollywood Actor Malik Yoba; Designer to the stars, Woody Wilson; Chairman of Sandals Resorts International, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and Caribbean government ministers and dignitaries from across the region including Premier of Nevis, Vance Amory; Moses Kirkconnell, Deputy Premier and Minister for Tourism for the Cayman Islands; Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications, Trinidad & Tobago, Vasant Bharath; Minister of Agriculture of Barbados, Dr.  David Estwick; Minister of Tourism & International Transport of St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt; Jeanne Rogers-Vanderpool, Minister of Tourism, St. Martin as well as representatives from Puerto Rico, Montserrat and Martinique.

Multiple Award Emmy winning TV Anchor, Ernie Anastos, will emcee the Summit while One Caribbean Television weatherman, Joey Stevens, and his famous side-kick, Bob, will wrap up the event by hosting the ICN Awards Reception, set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. This year’s honorees will include DHL Caribbean, HBO Latin America, First Citizens TT, One Caribbean Television, interCaribbean Airways and Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, the chairman and founder of Sandals Resorts International.

For more log on to ICN’s summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com. This year’s Summit will be live tweeted at twitter.com/InvestingCarib using hashtag Investingcarib. Additionally fans can follow the summit at Facebook or facebook.com/investcaribbeannow

ICN PARTNERS

Presenters for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the World Tourism Cities Federation, China Daily, InvesTT, the Chinese Business Development Center, the Sino-American Friendship Association, Martinique Promotion Bureau- CMT USA,  CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, the Jamaica Observer, CaribSeek, WINN-FM and GCaribbean Magazine.

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

[email protected]

Sir Richard Branson (3rd from l.) and Caribbean leaders following the Carbon War Room’s ‘10 Island Renewable Challenge on Feb. 10, 2014. (CWR image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. May 12, 2014: Strategies for Caribbean governments to transition to green energy will be put in the spotlight this June 4^th at the Harvard Club in New York City as Sir Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room (CWR) teams up with Invest Caribbean Now (ICN), to present ‘Clean Energy and the Future of the Caribbean.’

The panel at ICN, the biggest summit on the Caribbean outside the region, comes on the heels of Branson and the Carbon War Room’s ‘10 Island Renewable Challenge,’ issued in February on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.

The plan is to encourage Caribbean nations to switch away from fuel oil and move to low or zero-carbon energy that will not just help keep the air clean but reduce overall energy costs. The average cost of electricity across the Caribbean ranges from $0.30 per kilowatt hour (KWh) to $0.65/KWh – roughly three to six times the price paid in the continental US.

Justin Locke, Director of Islands at CWR, will moderate the panel which will include Diana Jensen, the director of Renewable Energy Finance at the U.S. government’s development finance institution, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, (OPIC); Raul Slavin, managing director of Aspenall Energies; Mark Austin, a venture partner at Bright Capital and Jacques-Philippe Piverger, the CEO and co-founder of MPowered.

Meanwhile, multiple-award Emmy winning TV Anchor, Ernie Anastos, will emcee the Summit beginning at 11:30 a.m. on June 4^th while Dr. Ma, Lin, Deputy Secretary-General of Beijing Municipal Government will bring greetings from China and Caribbean scholar Dr. Isaac Newton will deliver the key note address.

Trinidad & Tobago’s Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications, Senator Vasant Bharath will put the spotlight on investment opportunities in the twin-island Republic while Sheila Newton-Moses will put the project spotlight on the Caribbean Market Village of St. Lucia.

Other panels at the summit will also include ‘Global Trends & The Caribbean’ featuring Janine Craane of Merrill Lynch; Valence Williams of Aegis Capital; Sergio Millian, of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and Anthony A. L. Adjasse of the Allied African Nations Chamber Of Commerce and ‘Medical Tourism – The New Trend In Caribbean Tourism,’ with Colin Childress, CEO of Global Med Choices, Turks & Caicos; Paul Angelchik, chairman of American World Clinics and Patrick Goodness, CEO of The Goodness Company of Costa Rica among others.

Additionally, there will be a panel on the ‘Emerging Relationship Of Chinese Tourism & Investments In The Caribbean,’ featuring Cao, PengCheng of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development and Li Li, executive director of the Chinese American Business Development Center among others.

This year’s featured interview will focus on the ‘Caribbean Diaspora As An Investment Source’ with Qahir Dhanani of the World Bank Group; Leigh Moran of the US State Department and USAID’s IdEA and Irwine Clare of the Caribbean Immigrant Services.

Beverly Hills designer to the stars, Woody Wilson, will make a special announcement regarding his line and the Caribbean while offering a preview of his tropical collection for the region to wrap up the summit.

One Caribbean Television weatherman, Joey Stevens, and his famous side-kick, Bob, will host this year’s ICN Awards Reception, set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. It will include remarks from Hollywood Actor Malik Yoba and the presentation of awards to Chairman of Sandals Resorts International, Gordon “Butch” Stewart, who will receive the 2014 Invest Caribbean Now Leadership Award.

Past ICN honorees have included Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group and Royal Caribbean Cruises International. Five corporations from across the region will also be honoured. They include interCaribbean Airways, One Caribbean Television, First Citizens TT, DHL and HBO Latin America.

For more log on to ICN’s summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com. Only ten last minute tickets are left before this event closes its public registration. Get tickets here or at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e8uxmuwgc5df4c47&oseq=&c=&ch

This year’s Summit will be live tweeted at twitter.com/InvestingCarib using hashtag Investingcarib. Additionally fans can follow the summit at Facebook or facebook.com/investcaribbeannow

ICN PARTNERS

Presenters for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the World Tourism Cities Federation, China Daily, InvesTT, the Chinese Business Development Center, the Sino-American Friendship Association, Woody Wilson Fine Clothing, Martinique Promotion Bureau- CMT USA, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, the Jamaica Observer, CaribSeek, WINN-FM and GCaribbean Magazine.

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

[email protected]

Emmy award-winning TV anchor Ernie Anastos.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. April 7, 2014: New York Hall of Fame Broadcaster and winner of more than 30 Emmy awards and nominations, Ernie Anastos, is set to emcee the biggest investment summit on the Caribbean outside the region, Invest Caribbean Now (ICN) 2014.

Anastos, the distinguished and popular anchor for the FOX flagship station WNYW-TV in New York, will serve as host of the fourth summit that is being presented under the patronage of Hollywood Actor Malik Yoba and set for June 4th, 2014 from 11:30 a.m. at the prestigious Harvard Club in New York City.

This year’s summit will feature numerous global professional investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders including a delegation from China; the Industrial Commerce Bank of China, American CryoStem Corporation, Lugano Group, Damoola, Merrill Lynch, Nomura, Aegis Capital, Island Global Yachting, Blocadi Capital, K&L Gates, True Value Building & Hardware Ltd & Emerald Vista and representatives from Sir Richard Branson’s the Carbon War Room will also be in attendance.

Also attending will be Caribbean government ministers and dignitaries from across the region; chairman of the billion-dollar, privately-owned Jamaican-based empire that today includes 24 Caribbean properties, Appliance Traders Ltd. and The Observer media company, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart; Sergio Millian, President of the Russian American Chamber of Commerce; Colin Childress, CEO/Founder, Global MedChoices, Turks & Caicos; Paul Angelchik, M.D., Founder and CEO, American World Clinic – Barbados; Anthony A. L. Adjasse of the Allied African Nations Chamber Of Commerce; Jamaica’s Ambassador to the UN, Courtney Rattray and several CARICOM consuls general to New York; Hollywood fashion designer, Woody Wilson; Qahir Dhanani, private sector development specialist of the World Bank Group; Leigh Moran, manager, International Diaspora Engagement Alliance” or “IdEA,” a partnership of the US State Department and USAID; Brian Lilly, founder of One Caribbean Television and CEO of Lilly Broadcasting; Caribbean scholar Dr. Isaac Newton; Anthony Phills, founder of the Caribbean Commerce Magazine/Media and Blinglet Inc. and Irwine Clare of the Jamaica Diaspora, North East among others.

Anastos is the first and only New York TV anchor to receive the coveted “Lifetime Emmy Award,” the highest honor given for his outstanding and personal accomplishments in the television industry.

“We are extremely thrilled to welcome Ernie Anastos to Invest Caribbean Now 2014,” said ICN founder and Hard Beat Communications CMO Felicia Persaud. “Ernie is a New York television icon and his immediate acceptance of our invitation to serve as this year’s emcee adds to the global dimension of this year’s summit.”

One Caribbean Television weatherman, Joey Stevens, and his famous side-kick, Bob, will wrap up the event by hosting the ICN Awards Reception, set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Limited early bird tickets and table of 10 are available by booking here or atinvestcaribbeannow.com/earlybird.

Panel program sponsorship and advertising opportunities for this event are available by contacting [email protected] or [email protected] or by logging on to ICN’s summit page atInvestcaribbeannow.com.

An exclusive Diamond Dinner has been added to this year’s summit for only 20 people who will include Malik Yoba, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and Woody Wilson among other top Chinese, Caribbean and Russian delegates. Tickets are available on an invitation only basis by contacting Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

ICN PARTNERS

Presenters for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the Chinese Business Development Center, Woody Wilson Fine Clothing, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, the Jamaica Observer, CaribSeek and WINN-FM.

Follow The Summit |Twitter | Facebook

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

[email protected]

Thousands of nationals from the Diaspora gather annually at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Mar. 31, 2014: Nationals from the Caribbean region and those of Caribbean heritage living outside the region number millions even though there is no accurate count of the total number. There’s no better demonstration of their presence than the huge flow of funds that are remitted each year from prosperous nations to poorer ones, particularly the Caribbean and Latin America.

For this reason, a World Bank Specialist insists that this group represents a great market that regional governments can target for investment dollars.

Qahir Dhanani, private sector development specialist of the World Bank Group, says “The Caribbean Diaspora represents a welcome market for making investments and contributing to growth and development.”

“Given the intimate knowledge they have about the opportunities back home, Diasporas are best place to take advantage of these opportunities and make an impact,” added Dhanani, who will be part of a featured interview on ‘ The Caribbean Diaspora: A Real Source For Investment?’ at Invest Caribbean Now 2014.

Dhanani recently co-authored the study: ‘The Caribbean Diaspora: A source for venture investment?,’ with Mina J. Lee. In it they conclude that there is investment interest towards both specific Caribbean countries and sectors by the members of the Caribbean Diaspora who “can indeed play an important role in the Caribbean region’s development story.” But they both warn it will require leadership to lower barriers to engagement, facilitation of structured opportunities and an increase in information transparency.

Dhanani will be joined in the session by Leigh Moran, manager, International Diaspora Engagement Alliance” or “IdEA,” a partnership of the US State Department and USAID, where the interviewer will be Irwine Clare, advisory board member of the Jamaica Diaspora USA, NE & CEO of the Caribbean Immigrant Services. Moran’s company, the Calvert Foundation, has recently taken over management of the ‘IdEA’ and launched a Diaspora bond that allows for nationals in the Diaspora to make tangible yet minimal socio-economic investments in their homelands.

Diaspora bonds are essentially a form of government debt that targets members of the national community abroad, based on the presumption that their emotional ties to a country make investing in such products worthwhile. Sales can be restricted solely to members of a particular nationality or opened to all buyers, with nationals receiving a preferential rate.

WHO’S WHO FOR ICN

Invest Caribbean Now, the brainchild of Hard Beat Communications CEO Felicia Persaud, is committed to advancing wealth in the Caribbean. ICN matches investors with projects in the Caribbean while bringing investors to the region and introducing them to sustainable investment opportunities there.

This year’s summit will feature Caribbean scholar Dr. Isaac Newton, top delegates including a delegation of Chinese investors from China; representatives from the Carbon War Room; Caribbean government dignitaries from across the region, including Premier of Nevis, Vance Amory; Barbados’ Minister of Agriculture Dr. David Estwick; Minister of Tourism and International Transport of St. Kitts/Nevis, Ricky Skerritt; tourism ministers from across the Caribbean, New York City elected officials; chairman of over two dozen companies throughout the Caribbean, North America, Russia, China, Africa and Great Britain, including Sandals Resorts Chairman, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart; Sergio Millian, President of the Russian American Chamber of Commerce; Colin Childress, CEO/Founder, Global MedChoices, Turks & Caicos; Paul Angelchik, M.D., Founder and CEO, American World Clinic – Barbados; Anthony A. L. Adjasse of the Allied African Nations  Chamber Of Commerce; Jamaica’s Ambassador to the UN, Courtney Rattray; Hollywood fashion designer, Woody Wilson and  numerous global professional investors, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.

Special partnership, advertising and co-branding opportunities for this prestigious event are available by contacting [email protected] or logging on to ICN’s summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com.

Limited early bird tickets and table of 10 availability to the summit are available by booking here or at investcaribbeannow.com/earlybird

An exclusive Diamond Dinner has been added to this year’s summit for only 20 people who will include Malik Yoba, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and Woody Wilson among other top Chinese, Caribbean and Russian delegates. Tickets are available on an invitation only basis by contacting Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

ICN PARTNERS

Partners for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the Chinese Business Development Center, Woody Wilson Fine Clothing, CaribPR Wire and News Americas Now.

Follow The Summit |Twitter | Facebook

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

[email protected]

Actor/Activist Malik Yoba

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Mar. 10, 2014: Fresh on the heels of the Jamaican bobsled team’s participation in the 2014 Sochi Games, the man who played a Jamaican bobsledder and wrote the theme song in the now infamous movie, “Cool Runnings,” is set to attend the biggest investment summit on the Caribbean outside the region, Invest Caribbean Now, (ICN).

Hollywood actor and activist, Malik Yoba, will be among the top attendees at this year’s Caribbean Week in New York summit, set for June 4, 2014 at the prestigious Harvard Club of New York from 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Yoba’s attendance expresses his support for the Summit’s goals of sustainable development and investment towards building a stronger more economically viable region for the next generation and for Caribbean American Heritage Month in the United States.

Thirty-plus acting credits have solidified Yoba’s status as a distinguished Hollywood actor. He has starred in a number of hit TV shows and movies including his groundbreaking role in the drama series ‘New York Undercover’ along with films like Tyler Perry‘s ‘Why Did I Get Married?’ and its sequel.

Aside from acting, Yoba keeps busy with his heavy involvement in youth activism and mentoring. He has educated and inspired urban youth through a variety of projects encouraging them to express themselves creatively and reach their full potential.

Yoba will be attending with his mother, Mahmoudah Young, the co-author of-the coming of age memoir, “The Screw Factory.”

WHO’S WHO FOR ICN

This year’s summit top delegates will include Caribbean government dignitaries from across the region, including Premier of Nevis, Vance Amory; Chinese government officials; New York City elected officials; chairman of over two dozen companies throughout the Caribbean, North America and Great Britain, including Sandals Resort, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and representatives from the World Bank, the IDB, the US State Department’s IdEA, Merrill Lynch, Nomura, HBO Latin America, DHL, First Citizens Investment Services, Island Global Yachting, Lugano Group, Caribbean Airlines, Laparkan, Caribbean Television, the Russian American Chamber of Commerce, the Allied African Nations Chamber Of Commerce and the Chinese American Business Development Center, among numerous others.

Harvard, Princeton and Colombia graduate and Caribbean-born scholar, Dr. Isaac Newton will deliver the keynote address on the issue of economic development and global investment outreach while Woody Wilson, designer to stars like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Terrance Howard, will launch his Tropical Collection for the Caribbean.

Special partnership and co-branding opportunities for this prestigious event are available by contacting [email protected] or logging on to ICN’s brand new summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com.

Limited early bird tickets to the summit are available by booking here or at investcaribbeannow.com/earlybird

An exclusive Diamond Dinner has been added to this year’s summit for only 20 people who will include Malik Yoba, Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart and Woody Wilson. Tickets are available on an invitation only basis by contacting Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

ABOUT ICN

Invest Caribbean Now has as its main focus wealth creation for the region by capitalizing on global trends and indigenous creativity while managing scarce resources intelligently and building sound economics, investment in human development, and a strong alliance with nature.  In the past three years alone, over 600 investment bankers, private equity investors, Chinese and U.S. government officials, Caribbean ministers of governments and premiers, hotel developers, architects, real estate developers, financial advisors, entrepreneurs and the media have attended the event.  Past ICN honourees have included billionaire Sir Richard Branson and billion-dollar company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

ICN PARTNERS

Partners for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the Chinese Business Development Center, Woody Wilson Fine Clothing, CaribPR Wire and News Americas Now.

Follow The Summit |Twitter | Facebook

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

MEDIA CONTACT

Kathy Bronson

Communications Coordinator

Invest Caribbean Now

[email protected]

Xiaoguang Liu is consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs of the Consulate General of China in New York addressing delegates at Invest Caribbean Now 2013. (Hayden Roger Celestin image/ICN)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. March 2, 2014: The biggest investment summit on the Caribbean held outside the region annually, returns with a bang this Caribbean American Heritage Month to the U.S. Diaspora.

Global investors, business leaders and dignitaries from China, Russia, Africa, Dubai, the United States and the Caribbean will come together for Invest Caribbean Now 2014, (ICN) summit during Caribbean Week in New York this June 4, 2014 at the prestigious Harvard Club of New York City from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

ICN returns with a revamped agenda and a focus on advancing wealth in the Caribbean region. The summit will kick-off with a panel on Global Investment Trends & The Caribbean with representatives from China, Russia, Africa, the U.S. and Dubai.

Also on the agenda this year will be a focus on medical tourism as an economic earner for Caribbean nations with CEO of Global Med Choices, Colin Childress, and Dr. Paul Angelchik, founder of American World Clinics. ICN will also spotlight on the Emerging Relationship Of Chinese Tourism & Investments In The Caribbean;  IT and Clean Energy in the Caribbean and The Caribbean Diaspora: A Real Source For Investment?  with the World Bank Group’s Qahir Dhanani, the US State Department’s IdEA’s Leigh Moran and Irwine Clare, advisory board member of the Jamaica Diaspora USA, North East.

Harvard, Princeton and Colombia graduate and Caribbean-born scholar, Dr. Isaac Newton, will deliver the keynote address on the issue of economic development and investment outreach while bridging the wealth gap to the people of the Diaspora and the Caribbean while this year’s project focus will be on the Caribbean Market Village, a brilliant, new innovative $30 million resort project/theme park set to be built in Dunnery, St. Lucia.

The summit will wrap up with the launch of the Woody Wilson Tropical Collection for the Caribbean. Woody Wilson is a renowned designer to stars like Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Terrance Howard among others.

Immediately following the Summit, ICN will present its 2014 networking awards and cocktail reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Harvard Club’s Cambridge Room, where a Hollywood celebrity will join delegates and honorees who will include the 2014 Leadership Awardee, Gordon, Butch Stewart, chairman of Sandals Resort.

A special addition to the ICN Summit of 2014 is the Diamond Dinner event for 20 individuals to network and do business privately. Attendance is by invitation only  from Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

ICN Founder and Chairman Felicia Persaud, CMO of communications consultancy, Hard Beat Communications, says the 2014 Summit will be the best and biggest in the event’s four-year history because of the new team and board that’s been put in place to run the event and to market the Caribbean to the world.

ABOUT ICN

Invest Caribbean Now has as its main focus wealth creation for the region by capitalizing on global trends and indigenous creativity while managing scarce resources intelligently and building sound economics, investment in human development, and a strong alliance with nature.  In the past three years alone, over 600 investment bankers, private equity investors, Chinese and U.S. government officials, Caribbean ministers of governments and premiers, hotel developers, architects, real estate developers, financial advisors, entrepreneurs and the media have attended the event.  Past ICN honourees have included billionaire Sir Richard Branson and billion-dollar company, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.

PARTNERSHIP

For special partnership and co-branding opportunities for this prestigious event, contact [email protected] or log on to ICN’s brand new summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com.

TICKETS

Early bird tickets are going fast but a few limited seats for the June 4th summit are still available at investcaribbeannow.com/earlybird.

ICN PARTNERS

Partners for ICN 2014 include: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the Chinese Business Development Center, CaribPR Wire and News Americas Now.

Follow The Summit |Twitter | Facebook

SOURCE: Invest Caribbean Now

Felicia Persaud, the Caribbean-born executive of Hard Beat Communications, rallies for immigration reform on Oct. 5, 2013. (NAN Image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. Oct. 6, 2013:  Caribbean-born, New York-based media entrepreneur and columnist, Felicia J. Persaud, was among tens of thousands in the United States joining the march nationally for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, (CIR), on Saturday, October 5, 2013.

The Hard Beat Communications executive, along with Guyanese Valence Williams and Menes De Griot were the lone Caribbean nationals joining the New York Immigration Coalition organized rally in Brooklyn, NY, as they put the spotlight on the voiceless Caribbeans who are undocumented and desperate for immigration reform yet remain in the shadows.

Carrying a sign that read simply: “Caribbeans Too Need Immigration Reform,” Persaud, founder of CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now and Invest Caribbean Now, who has penned her 46^th open letter to President Obama in her weekly column in the New York Amsterdam News calling for immigration reform now, got the thumbs up from Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City mayoral front-runner, Bill de Blasio, whose roots extend to the Caribbean, as she proudly carried her sign around Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, NY.

Then along with De Griot on the drum and Williams on the cowbells, Persaud marched over the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday afternoon along with thousands of mainly Latino advocates to send a message to President Obama and the U.S. Congress that passage of comprehensive reform reform was an issue  just as important as the debt ceiling and the re-opening of the government.

“The fact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and consuls worldwide are largely open because of immigrants fees and the government shutdown has not affected them tells why the Congress needs to pass CIR now,” Persaud said.

Though they were only three, the small Caribbean contingent stole the show with their rhythm and sent a clear message that the Caribbean was in the house and also needed immigration reform.

Valence Williams, l., and Menes De Griot marching over the Brooklyn bridge. (NAN Image)

Carrying a sign that read simply, “Caribbeans Too Need Immigration Reform,” Persaud, founder of CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now and Invest Caribbean Now, who has penned her 46^th open letter to President Obama in her weekly column in the New York Amsterdam News calling for immigration reform now, got the thumbs up from Chirlane McCray, the wife of New York City mayoral front-runner, Bill de Blasio, whose roots extend to the Caribbean, as she proudly carried her sign around Cadman Plaza, Brooklyn, NY.

Then along with De Griot on the drum and Williams on the cowbells, Persaud marched over the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday afternoon along with thousands of mainly Latino advocates to send a message to President Obama and the U.S. Congress that passage of comprehensive reform reform was an issue was just as important as the debt ceiling and the re-opening of the government.

“The fact the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service and consuls worldwide are largely open because of immigrants fees and the government shutdown has not affected them tells why the Congress needs to pass CIR now,” Persaud said.

Though they were only three, the small Caribbean contingent stole the show with their rhythm and sent a clear message that the Caribbean was in the house and also needed immigration reform.

“It’s beyond incomprehensible that some three million Caribbean people can party each year down Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, New York but only three of us can show up to make our voices heard for something that is important to thousands in our community,” said Persaud.

The march by tens of thousands nationally took place on the 100^th day anniversary since the passage of the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act in the Senate. The Republican controlled House has refused to bring the measure to a vote, insisting they will address the hot button issue through smaller bills only but has yet to bring any bills to the House floor.

The rally was held under the theme, “National Day of Immigrant Dignity and Respect,” and came just days after House Democrats introduced their own immigration bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, calling too for immigration reform and a path to citizenship for 11 plus million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

The Chinese panel at the 2013 Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum on June 5 in NYC. (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. July 12, 2013: Caribbean governments and top private sector executives in the tourism and investment sectors are being urged to participate in a 10-day trade mission to four top cities in China, set for this September 14^th-23^rd.

The trip comes on the heels of the June 5^th Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum in New York City and is being planned by Peter Zhang and Li Li of the Chinese American Business Development Center, in collaboration with Hard Beat Communications’ CMO, Felicia Persaud.

CABC has been leading trade missions for U.S. companies to China for the past 10 years while Hard Beat’s Invest Caribbean Now forum is in its third year.

The planned trip to Beijing, Shannxi , Zhejiang and Guangdong comes on the heels of Chinese President’s Xi Jinping first visit to the Caribbean island of Trinidad on May 31^st and his pledge of more than $3 billion in loans to 10 Caribbean nations and Costa Rica on June 2^nd.

The 2013 Caribbean/China Trade Mission is designed to help Caribbean premiers, ministers of governments, investment agencies and C-level private sector business leaders, meet with top Chinese officials from varied ministries, such as tourism and finance as well as  C-level company execs  including from the China Import Export Bank, to: promote  direct in country investment opportunities and company products and services; establish strategic connections, strengthen existing relations, explore opportunities for joint ventures, source potential suppliers and extend friendships and create relationships for return visits to the  Caribbean region.

The Mission will provide Caribbean governments and business leaders’ new access and close-up insight into the dynamic Chinese market— including its scale, diversity and potential.

Consequently,  the Chinese ministry and private sector executives will  be able to enhance  and expand business and investments to the Caribbean in their quest to  compete effectively in today’s global marketplace.

China’s 1.3 billion people are rapidly gaining purchasing power. In fact, by 2020, China will surpass the U.S. in middle class consumption. And as quickly as China is emerging as a new market for Caribbean real estate and products like tourism.

For event details and participation in the trip contact Felicia Persaud at [email protected].

Caribbean governments congratulate Royal Caribbean International for its 2013 award along with ICN Founder Felicia Persaud and Dr. Grace Lappin, managing director of Avalon Partners and this year's marquee sponsor. (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 7, 2013: Avalon Invest Caribbean Now concluded with a bang Wednesday, June 5^th, with delegates, sponsors and speakers alike buzzing over the event’s presentation and program line-up that included a representative from the U.S. State Department and a Chinese delegation.

“Incredible,” “informative” and “superb,” were just some of the phrases used to describe the ICN 2013 forum that kicked-off with the VIP reception on Tuesday evening, June 4^th and wrapped up at noon on Wednesday at the Radisson Martinique Hotel in New York City.

Over twelve dozen delegates attended the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum and reception, including Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing and his Minister of Finance C. Washington Misick; Minister of Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt; Minister for Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia, Lorne Theophilus; Minister of Tourism Nevis, Mark Brantley; Minister of Tourism of Antigua & Barbuda, John Maginley; Minister of Tourism, Sports & Culture, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Cecil McKie; Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation, Tobago; Nicolaas Sneek, Commissioner, St. Eustacius; Minister of Tourism of The Bahamas, Obie Wilchcombe and Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and Commissioner of the United States Virgin Islands, Beverly Nicholson Doty.

ICN founder, Felicia Persaud, opened the forum with a passionate speech on the relevancy of the Caribbean while Anthony Eterno, of the Office of Caribbean Affairs in the Western Hemisphere Division in the U.S. State Department, discussed key issues regarding American investment in the Caribbean.

Alan Loewenstein delivered the keynote address and insisted the Caribbean is ripe for investments.

This was followed by a panel on “Development, Tourism & Beyond,” by Heather Flossiac of Belle Vue Properties of St. Lucia; E. Jay Saunders, CEO of Digicel TCI; Brian Lilly, founder of One Caribbean Television and Ganesh Ramanathan, creative director at Hard Beat Communications. The panel was moderated by Dr. Grace Lappin of Avalon Partners, Inc.

Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs at the Consulate of China in New York; Johnny Liu of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association, (ACCDA); and Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center, (CABDC), were part of a well received panel on China and the Caribbean that was moderated by Arthur Piccolo of the Bowling Green Association.

The panel was presented by the Sino-American Friendship Association, (SAFA) and supported by ACCDA and the CABDC.

Additionally, US-based; Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd; the “ICN 2013 Corporate Leadership Award” winner, discussed its US$200 million in investments in the Caribbean region over the past ten years.

The event was the most promoted of the Caribbean Week activities with media placements in over one thousand media outlets, including CNBC, Reuters, Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.

Invest Caribbean Now is organized annually by The Caribbean Tourism Organization and digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications, during Caribbean Week in New York. The event is the brain child of Persaud and is now in its third year.

Kara Coleman, news anchor of One Caribbean Television emceed the forum which was sponsored by Avalon Partners; The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency; Royal Caribbean Cruise, Ltd; One Caribbean Television, The Chinese American Business Development Center, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association and No-Jet-Lag.

2013 media partners included the PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, WINN FM of St. Kitts, South Florida Caribbean, Caribseek, Antigua Tribune, Bahamas Spectator, Barbados Gazette, British Caribbean News, Caribbean ET Roundup, Caribbean Financials, Cuba Chronicle, Dominica Gazette, Dominican Republic Post, Dutch Caribbean News, French Caribbean News, Grenada Chronicle, Guyana Inquirer, Haiti Gazette, Jamaica Inquirer, Puerto Rico Tribune, St. Kitts Gazette, St. Lucia Chronicle, St. Vincent Tribune, Trinidad Tribune, the Bajan Reporter, The Bahamas Weekly and Bahamas Local.

For more including additional photos and videos of the speeches and presentations stay logged on to InvestCaribbeanNow.com.

Mr. Alan Loewenstein, managing partner of Wedgewood Investment Group delivered the keynote address at the 2013 Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum in New York city on June 5, 2013. (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 7, 2013: “The ‘Caribbean is ripe for significant investments to spur the region in sustained economic and human growth.”

That’s the consensus of 30-year investment veteran, Alan Loewenstein, managing partner of Wedgewood Investment Group. In delivering the keynote speech at the 2013 Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum in New York City on Wednesday, June 5^th, Loewenstein said “the government that can lure the most investment will be the long term winner because these investments will spur the local economy.”

He said the Caribbean is a safer bet for investors compared to Africa and Latin America since growth in the LATAM has much more political risk than the Caribbean while investments in Africa is “still too early stage with unstable governments that cause the potential for tremendous risk.”

“Investments now will be on the ground level of a growth and a building boom that will spur more growth in the future,” predicted Lowenstein, adding that the time to buy is when valuations are cheap.

But he said governments must do their part to attract the baby boomers and new millionaires and billionaires who are growing globally including in China and Russia.

“These people are accustomed to the modern conveniences of society,” said Loewenstein, so to entice them to come, all the technology needs to be in place, the marina has to be built, the service industry has to be trained and all the comforts of home need to be transported and this requires significant investment.”

For the full speech from Mr. Loewenstein log on here or to http://investcaribbeannow.com/presentations/

Other speakers and presenters at the Avalon ICN 2013 included Anthony Eterno of the Caribbean Affairs Office of the Western Hemisphere Division of the U.S. State Department; Dr. Rufus Ewing, Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands; C. Washington Misick, finance minister of the Turks & Caicos Islands; Felicia Persaud, founder of Invest Caribbean Now and CMO at Hard Beat Communications; Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Commissioner of tourism of the USVI, Beverly Nicholson Doty; Miguel Reyna, director, Port Business Development and Asset Management, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.; Heather Flossiac of Belle Vue Properties of St. Lucia; E. Jay Saunders, CEO of Digicel TCI; Brian Lilly, founder of One Caribbean Television and Ganesh Ramanathan, creative director at Hard Beat Communications; Dr. Grace Lappin of Avalon Partners, Inc. and Arthur Piccolo of the Bowling Green Association.

Private sector attendees included representatives from JP Morgan Chase, Nomura, Aegis Capital, Merrill Lynch, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd, Frontier Markets Capital, Ltd.; Waterloo Investments Holdings Ltd.; RBC Merchant Bank Caribbbean; efm Hospitality; CIBC World Markets; RBC Royal Bank and Ibis Investments among others. 

Over twelve dozen delegates attended the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum at the Radisson Martinique Hotel in mid-town, Manhattan, including Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing and his Minister of Finance C. Washington Misick; Minister of Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt; Minister for Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia, Lorne Theophilus; Minister of Tourism Nevis, Mark Brantley; Minister of Tourism of Antigua & Barbuda, John Maginley; Minister of Tourism, Sports & Culture, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Cecil McKie; Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation, Tobago; Nicolaas Sneek, Commissioner, St. Eustacius; Minister of Tourism of The Bahamas, Obie Wilchcombe and Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and Commissioner of the United States Virgin Islands, Beverly Nicholson Doty.; Parliamentary Secretary of Tourism of Anguilla, Haydn Hughes; Juliana Johan-Boodram, Permanent Secretary of Trinidad & Tobago’s Ministry of Tourism; and Russell Harrigan, chairman of the Board of Directors of the British Virgin Islands Tourist Board.

Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean International copped the prestigious “ICN Corporate Leadership Award” for 2013 for it’s over $200,000,000 investments in the Caribbean region in the past 10 years.

Invest Caribbean Now is the brain child of Felicia Persaud and is now in its third year.

Kara Coleman, news anchor of One Caribbean Television emceed the forum which was sponsored by Avalon Partners; The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency; Royal Caribbean Cruise, Ltd; One Caribbean Television, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association  and The Chinese American Business Development Center.

For 2013 presentations log on here or http://investcaribbeannow.com/presentations/

For more including additional photos and videos of the speeches and presentations stay logged on to InvestCaribbeanNow.com.

Among the corporate, governmental and economic heavyweights participating in the 2013 Invest Caribbean Now Forum were (l. to r.) Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center; Kara Coleman, news anchor of One Caribbean Television and ICN 2013 emcee; Peter Zhang, president of the Sino-American Friendship Society; Mike Ronan, vice president of government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines; ICN founder Felicia Persaud; Miguel Reyna, director, Port Business Development and Asset Management; Johnny Liu of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association; and Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic and commercial affairs of the Consulate of China in New York. (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. June 6, 2013: Caribbean governments were on Wednesday, June 5th, urged to participate in a business development and investment promotions trip to China this Fall as the curtains came down on the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum in New York City.

The invitation was extended by Li Li, managing Director of the Chinese American Business Development Center and seconded by the Consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs of the Consulate General of China in New York, Xiaoguang Liu; and Johnny Liu of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association.  The three were part of a panel on ‘China and the Caribbean’ at ICN 2013, which came on the heels of Chinese President’s Xi Jinping first visit to the Caribbean island of Trinidad on May 31^st and his pledge of more than $3 billion in loans to 10 Caribbean nations and Costa Rica on June 2^nd.

“The Chinese private sectors are seeking opportunities in the Caribbean such as hospitality, real estate, healthcare and education industry because they are easy to operate, are transparent and create jobs,”  Li told the packed room at the Radisson Martinique Hotel Wednesday.

She said the Caribbean, located in the center of the Americas, provides the advantage of easy access to markets in the North, South and Central America and serves as a bridge to the markets in Europe.

Citing statistics that said up to 100 million Chinese will be traveling abroad by 2015, Li said the time was right for the Caribbean to target this key demographic, especially since the Chinese consumer works hard and has spending power and “the Caribbean has garnered critical acclaim as a Mecca for tourism with significant investments in that and related sectors.”

Li also pointed to figures that showed the Chinese outbound travel market will be $590 billion by 2020.

The panel was presented by the Sino-American Friendship Association, (SAFA) and supported by The Chinese American Business Development Center, (CABDC) and the American Chinese Commerce Development Association, (ACCDA).Arthur Piccolo of the New Sports Group moderated the forum.

Meanwhile, Anthony Eterno, of the Caribbean Affairs Office of the Western Hemisphere Division in the US State Department, in his speech on the “US’ views on Investing In The Caribbean,” insisted that the U.S. Obama administration remains committed to an economic partnership with the region that stimulates growth.

And in opening remarks, ICN Founder and CMO of Hard Beat Communications, Felicia Persaud, urged Caribbean governments to  do more to “tell and sell” the diverse Caribbean investment story to the right people because the region “is relevant” despite what the naysayers may claim.

“We are relevant when 11 Caribbean nations are in the top 100 when it comes to ease of doing business but only seven for Latin America and eight for Africa,” said Persaud. “We are relevant when eight nations in the Caribbean are ranked in the top 100 fastest growing economies globally compared to 10 for Latin America as of 2012 … a difference of two … and we are relevant when the world’s richest man invests Caribbean.”

Over twelve dozen delegates attended the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum at the Radisson Martinique Hotel in mid-town, Manhattan, including Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing and his Minister of Finance C. Washington Misick; Minister of Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt; Minister for Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia, Lorne Theophilus; Minister of Tourism Nevis, Mark Brantley; Minister of Tourism of Antigua & Barbuda, John Maginley; Minister of Tourism, Sports & Culture, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Cecil McKie; Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation, Tobago; Nicolaas Sneek, Commissioner, St. Eustacius; Minister of Tourism of The Bahamas, Obie Wilchcombe and Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and Commissioner of the United States Virgin Islands, Beverly Nicholson Doty.

Speakers and presenters included Miguel Reyna, director, Port Business Development and Asset Management, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.; Heather Flossiac of Belle Vue Properties of St. Lucia; E. Jay Saunders, CEO of Digicel TCI; Brian Lilly, founder of One Caribbean Television and Ganesh Ramanathan, creative director at Hard Beat Communications; Dr. Grace Lappin of Avalon Partners, Inc. And Arthur Piccolo of the Bowling Green Association.

The “ICN 2013 Corporate Leadership Award” was presented to Royal Caribbean International,

In brief remarks, Adam Goldstein, President and CEO of RCCL, said “The Caribbean has been the heart and soul of who we are and where we go for over 40 years, and we are honored to receive the 2013 ‘Invest Caribbean Now Corporate Leadership Award” as our goal is to continue to work closely with the Caribbean so that their ability to retain and attract cruise ships remains as strong and robust as ever and we look forward to being a leader and working to help recognize the region’s value.”

Mike Ronan, vice president of government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America & Asia at RCCL, represented Golstein at the event and accepted the prestigious award that is given to one individual or corporation each year for their above par investments in the region.

Invest Caribbean Now is organized annually by The Caribbean Tourism Organization and digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications, during Caribbean Week in New York. The event is the brain child of Persaud and is now in its third year.

Kara Coleman, news anchor of One Caribbean Television emceed the forum which was sponsored by Avalon Partners; The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency; Royal Caribbean Cruise, Ltd; One Caribbean Television, The Chinese American Business Development Center, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association and No-Jet-Lag.

2013 media partners included the PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, WINN FM of St. Kitts, South Florida Caribbean, Caribseek, Antigua Tribune, Bahamas Spectator, Barbados Gazette, British Caribbean News, Caribbean ET Roundup, Caribbean Financials, Cuba Chronicle, Dominica Gazette, Dominican Republic Post, Dutch Caribbean News, French Caribbean News, Grenada Chronicle, Guyana Inquirer, Haiti Gazette, Jamaica Inquirer, Puerto Rico Tribune, St. Kitts Gazette, St. Lucia Chronicle, St. Vincent Tribune, Trinidad Tribune, the Bajan Reporter, The Bahamas Weekly and Bahamas Local.

For more including additional photos and videos of the speeches and presentations stay tuned for continuous updates on to InvestCaribbeanNow.com.

Turks & Caicos Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing addressing guests at the TCI sponsored Avalon ICN VIP party on June 4, 2013. (Hayden Roger Celestin image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. May 5, 2013: More than a dozen Caribbean governments will gather in New York City this morning for the third annual Invest Caribbean Now Forum.

Two premiers, a chief minister, a governor; seven ministers of governments and two commissioners will join more than a hundred delegates, including from China; the U.S. government and the private sector for the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum at the Radisson Hotel in mid-town, Manhattan.

The event comes on the heels of last night’s opening reception for speakers, sponsors and VIPS, which was hosted by the Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency and the Government of the Turks & Caicos Islands at the Yale Club in NYC.

In brief remarks, Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing, insisted his country is open for business.

Governments who will attend the forum today will include Dr. Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands; Chief Minister of Anguilla, Hubert Hughes;  Governor John De Jong, Jr. of the United States Virgin Islands; Finance Minister Washington Misick of the Turks & Caicos Islands;  Minister of Tourism of Trinidad Stephen Cadiz; Minister of Tourism of Antigua, John Maginley; Minister of Tourism, Nevis, Mark Brantley; Minister of Tourism, Sports & Culture, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Cecil McKie; Minister of Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs of St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt and Minister for Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia, Lorne Theophilus; Commissioner of Tourism for the US Virgin Islands and Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Beverly Nicholson Doty; Commissioner, St. Eustacius, Nicholas Sneek and Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation of Tobago were among governmental dignitaries.

Anthony Eterno of the Caribbean Affairs Office of the US State Department, who will speak on the US’ view on investing in the Caribbean and Xiaoguang Liu, Consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs at the Consulate General of China in New York, will also speak on Wednesday morning on the China-Caribbean opportunities that exist as part of a panel on China and the Caribbean.

The sold out Forum will begin at 8:30 a.m. sharp with a welcome by emcee Kara Coleman, news anchor of One Caribbean Television and opening remarks from founder of ICN and CMO of Hard Beat Communications, Felicia Persaud.

This will be followed by remarks from CTO Chair Nicholson-Doty and a speech by Eterno; Premier Dr. Ewing and his finance minister, Washington Misick.

Two panels will then follow – one on Development, Tourism & Beyond with Heather Flossiac of Belle Vue Properties of St. Lucia; E. Jay Saunders, CEO of Digicel TCI; Brian Lilly, founder of One Caribbean Television and Ganesh Ramanathan, creative director at Hard Beat Communications and the other on China and the Caribbean that will feature Liu; Johnny Liu of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association and Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center.

The panels will be moderated respectively, by Dr. Grace Lappin, managing director of Avalon Partners and Arthur Piccolo of the New Sports Group, who is replacing Martin Mohabeer of Spackman Capital.

The formal forum will wrap up at 10:30 a.m. with a presentation by Miguel Reyna – Director, Port Business Development and Asset Management, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd and the ICN corporate leadership award presentation to Royal Caribbean International. An hour long doing business and networking session will bring the curtains down on ICN 2013.

The Avalon Invest Caribbean Now Forum comes on the heels of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s Caribbean trip on May 28^th for the signing of the United States – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, (TIFA) and the first visit to Trinidad & Tobago by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, which will take place from May 31 to June 2.

Invest Caribbean Now is organized annually by The Caribbean Tourism Organization and digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications, during Caribbean Week in New York.

ICN 2013 is sponsored by marquee sponsor Avalon Partners; gold sponsors, The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency and Royal Caribbean Cruise, Ltd; bronze sponsor, One Caribbean Television and supporting sponsors, The Chinese American Business Development Center, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association and No-Jet-Lag.

2013 media partners include the PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, WINN FM of St. Kitts, South Florida Caribbean, Caribseek, Antigua Tribune, Bahamas Spectator, Barbados Gazette, British Caribbean News, Caribbean ET Roundup, Caribbean Financials, Cuba Chronicle, Dominica Gazette, Dominican Republic Post, Dutch Caribbean News, French Caribbean News, Grenada Chronicle, Guyana Inquirer, Haiti Gazette, Jamaica Inquirer, Puerto Rico Tribune, St. Kitts Gazette, St. Lucia Chronicle, St. Vincent Tribune, Trinidad Tribune, the Bajan Reporter, The Bahamas Weekly and Bahamas Local.

For more, log on to InvestCaribbeanNow.com.

Royal Caribbean International President & CEO, Adam Goldstein and VP Mike Ronan, will accept the award on behalf of the company.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. June 3, 2013: Celebrating more than four decades in business, Royal Caribbean International will be honoured for its investments in the Caribbean region during Caribbean American Heritage Month in New York City this June.

Royal Caribbean International will be presented with the ‘2013 Invest Caribbean Now Corporate Leadership ‘award on Wednesday, June 5^th at the Radisson Martinique Hotel, for its substantial commitment in serving the Caribbean region’s tourism sector, the current lifeblood of many nations.

The Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum is the definitive Caribbean investment event, presented annually in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO), the governmental arm of tourism; and digital media company, Hard Beat Communications. Held during Caribbean Week in New York, one individual or corporation deemed as excelling in its investments in the U.S.’ ‘Third Border,’ is selected to receive the coveted award each year.

ICN officials are honouring Royal Caribbean International this year for generously investing in the region and developing partnerships with governments and local businesses in twenty countries.  Royal Caribbean operates twenty-three ships that call at over twenty Caribbean destinations, bringing more than 8.5 million visitors to the region each year.

Over the last ten years, Royal Caribbean’s partnerships have been extensive, generating aggregate investments of over US$200,000,000, including the historic cruise port of Falmouth, Jamaica; Roatan Honduras Town Center and the cruise port in Belize City. In addition, Royal Caribbean operates its private destinations of CocoCay in The Bahamas and Labadee in Haiti.

Royal Caribbean International’s CEO and President, Adam Goldstein and Mike Ronan, the company’s vice president of government relations for the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia, will accept the award on behalf of Royal Caribbean.

In commenting on the award, Royal Caribbean International’s CEO and President, Goldstein, said: “The Caribbean has been the heart and soul of who we are and where we go for over 40 years, and we are honored to receive the 2013 ‘Invest Caribbean Now Corporate Leadership Award.’ At Royal Caribbean, our goal is to continue to work closely with the Caribbean so that their ability to retain and attract cruise ships remains as strong and robust as ever and we look forward to being a leader and working to help recognize the region’s value.”

As well, this year’s ICN program will focus on both the US and China’s investments in the Caribbean with speakers including Anthony Eterno of the Caribbean Affairs Office in the Western Hemisphere Department of the U.S. State Department; Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs, Consulate General of China, New York; and Jianxin Lin, chairman of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association.

The forum comes on the heels of Vice President Joe Biden’s May 28th trip to the Caribbean for the signing of the United States – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, (TIFA) and the first visit to the region by the new Chinese President Xi Jinping that concluded on June 2nd.

ICN 2013 is sponsored by marquee sponsor Avalon Partners; gold sponsors, The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.; bronze sponsor, One Caribbean Television and supporting sponsors, The Chinese American Business Development Center, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association and No-Jet-Lag.

2013 media partners include the PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, WINN FM of St. Kitts, South Florida Caribbean, Caribseek, Antigua Tribune, Bahamas Spectator, Barbados Gazette, British Caribbean News, Caribbean ET Roundup, Caribbean Financials, Cuba Chronicle, Dominica Gazette, Dominican Republic Post, Dutch Caribbean News, French Caribbean News, Grenada Chronicle, Guyana Inquirer, Haiti Gazette, Jamaica Inquirer, Puerto Rico Tribune, St. Kitts Gazette, St. Lucia Chronicle, St. Vincent Tribune, Trinidad Tribune, the Bajan Reporter, The Bahamas Weekly and Bahamas Local.

Anthony Eterno, U.S. State Department, Office of Caribbean Affairs, Western Hemisphere and Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs of the Consulate General of China in New York are among the ICN 2013 speakers.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 31, 2013: Investment in the Caribbean region is bringing together a unique coalition for Caribbean American Heritage Month this June, as the United States, China and the Caribbean unite for Invest Caribbean Now 2013.

The sold out Forum on June 5th at the Radisson Martinique Hotel in New York City, comes on the heels of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s Caribbean trip on May 28^th for the signing of the United States – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, (TIFA) and the first visit to Trinidad & Tobago by the Chinese President Xi Jinping, which will take place from May 31 to June 2.

Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs at the Consulate of China in New York will headline a panel on China’s growing interests in the Caribbean. Other panelists will include Jianxin Lin, chairman of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association, (ACCDA); and Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center, (CABDC). The Sino-American Friendship Association (SAFA) will present the panel, which will be supported by ACCDA and the CABDC and moderated by Martin Mohabeer, managing director of Spackman Group, a Hong-Kong based venture capital firm.

As well, Anthony Eterno, of the Office of Caribbean Affairs in the Western Hemisphere Division in the U.S. State Department, will discuss key issues regarding American investment in the Caribbean Additionally, US-based; Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd will discuss its investments in the Caribbean region before an audience that will include over a dozen Caribbean premiers and ministers of government.

In 2012, U.S. imports from Caribbean countries under the Caribbean Basin Initiative totalled more than $11 billion, representing a 178 percent increase over the past decade. U.S. exports equalled nearly $12 billion, representing a 133 percent increase over the past decade.

In 2011, China announced it would lend $6.3 billion to Caribbean governments, adding considerably to the hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, grants and other forms of economic assistance it has already channelled in the past decade.

Invest Caribbean Now is organized annually by The Caribbean Tourism Organization and digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications, during Caribbean Week in New York.

ICN 2013 is sponsored by marquee sponsor Avalon Partners; gold sponsors, The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency and Royal Caribbean Cruise, Ltd; bronze sponsor, One Caribbean Television and supporting sponsors, The Chinese American Business Development Center, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association and No-Jet-Lag.

Speakers and panellists confirmed for ICN 2013 are:

Anthony Eterno, U.S. State Department, Office of Caribbean Affairs, Western Hemisphere;

Dr. Rufus Ewing, Premier Turks & Caicos Islands, (TCI);

Washington Misick, Finance Minister, Turks & Caicos Islands;

Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Chairman, Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO) and Commissioner Tourism, USVI;

Alan Lowenstein, managing director, Wedgewood Investment Group;

E. Jay Saunders, CEO, Digicel TCI;

Heather Floissac, managing director, Belle Vue Properties, Ltd;

Brian Lilly, CEO, Lilly Broadcasting and One Caribbean Television;

Adam Goldstein, president, Royal Caribbean International;

Miguel Reyna, director, port business development and asset management, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.;

Dr. Grace Lappin, managing director, Avalon Partners;

Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs of the Consulate General of China in New York;

Jianxin Lin, chairman of the American Chinese Commerce Development Association, (ACCDA);

Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center, (CABDC);

Ganesh Ramanathan, creative director, Hard Beat Communications;

Felicia Persaud, CMO, Hard Beat Communications.

Other government attendees will include:

Premier Dr. Orlando Smith of the British Virgin Islands;

John Percy de Jongh, Jr,   Governor, US Virgin Islands;

Chief Minister Hubert Hughes of Anguilla;

Senator Ricky Skerritt, Minister Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs, St. Kitts;

Lorne Theophilus, Minister Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia;

Stephen Cadiz, Minister Tourism, Trinidad & Tobago;

Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation of Tobago;

Mark Brantley, Minister Tourism, Nevis;

Nicolaas Sneek, Commissioner St. Eustatius;

John Maginley, tourism minister of Antigua & Barbuda;

Damion Crawford, minister of state, Jamaica;

Maryse Noel of Haiti

and Hugh Riley, secretary general, Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO).

Private sector representatives will include senior executives from JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Nomura, CIBC World Capital, Ibis Investments, Aegis Capital, Portfolio Credit Management Limited, DHL, Marriott International, Spackman Capital, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Ltd., One Caribbean Television, Avalon Partners, Digicel, TCI, Scotiabank TCI and Sun Realty among others.

2013 media partners include the PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, WINN FM of St. Kitts, South Florida Caribbean, Caribseek, Antigua Tribune, Bahamas Spectator, Barbados Gazette, British Caribbean News, Caribbean ET Roundup, Caribbean Financials, Cuba Chronicle, Dominica Gazette, Dominican Republic Post, Dutch Caribbean News, French Caribbean News, Grenada Chronicle, Guyana Inquirer, Haiti Gazette, Jamaica Inquirer, Puerto Rico Tribune, St. Kitts Gazette, St. Lucia Chronicle, St. Vincent Tribune, Trinidad Tribune, the Bajan Reporter, The Bahamas Weekly and Bahamas Local.

For more, log on to InvestCaribbeanNow.com.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 24, 2013: The countdown is on to the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now forum, the definitive Caribbean investment meeting and the most promoted item on the Caribbean Week calendar, set for June 5^th from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Radisson Martinique, 49 West 32nd Street at Broadway in New York City.

With over 1,000 media placements already including on the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg and Reuters, the conference remains true to its goal of matching international financial influencers with government officials and policy makers from “Paradise,” the last emerging market on earth.

Speakers and panelists confirmed for ICN 2013 are:

Anthony Eterno, U.S. State Department

Dr. Rufus Ewing, Premier Turks & Caicos Islands, (TCI)

Washington Misick, Finance Minister, Turks & Caicos Islands

Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Chairman, Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO) and Commissioner Tourism, USVI

Alan Lowenstein, managing director, Wedgewood Investment Group

E.Jay Saunders, CEO, Digicel TCI

Heather Floissac, managing director, Belle Vue Properties Ltd

Brian Lilly, CEO, Lilly Broadcasting and One Caribbean Television

Adam Goldstein, president, Royal Caribbean International

Miguel Reyna, director, port business development and asset management, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

Dr. Grace Lappin, managing director, Avalon Partners

Xiaoguang Liu, consul in charge of economic & commercial affairs of the Consulate General of China in New York

Jianxin Lin, president of American Chinese Commerce Development Association, (ACCDA)

Li Li, managing director of the Chinese American Business Development Center, (CABDC)

Ganesh Ramanathan, creative director, Hard Beat Communications

Felicia Persaud, CMO, Hard Beat Communications.

Government attendees will include:

John Percy de Jongh, Jr,   Governor, US Virgin Islands

Hubert Hughes, Chief Minister, Anguilla

Senator Ricky Skerritt, Minister Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs, St. Kitts

Lorne Theophilus, Minister Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia

Stephen Cadiz, Minister Tourism, Trinidad & Tobago

Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation of Tobago

Mark Brantley, Minister Tourism, Nevis

Nicolaas Sneek, Commissioner St. Eustatius

Hugh Riley, secretary general, Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO).

Private sector representatives will include senior executives from JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Nomura, CIBC World Capital, Ibis Investments, Aegis Capital, Portfolio Credit Management Limited, DHL, Marriott International, Spackman Capital, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Ltd., One Caribbean Television, Avalon Partners, Digicel, TCI, Scotiabank TCI and Sun Realty among others.

A VIP only reception for sponsors, speakers, panelists and special guests will precede the forum on June 4^th at the Yale Club and will be sponsored by The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency.

Tickets at US$185 are available only through May 24^th for the June 5^th forum at http://investcaribbeannow.com/registration/

The coveted 2013 ICN Leadership Award will be presented to Royal Caribbean International.

Invest Caribbean Now is organized annually by The Caribbean Tourism Organization and digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications, during Caribbean Week in New York.

ICN 2013 is sponsored by marquee sponsor Avalon Partners; gold sponsors, The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency and Royal Caribbean Cruise Ltd; bronze sponsor, One Caribbean Television and supporting sponsors, The Chinese American Business Development Center, the American Chinese Commerce Development Association and No-Jet-Lag.

2013 media partners are: The PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, WINN FM of St. Kitts, South Florida Caribbean, Caribseek, Antigua Tribune, Bahamas Spectator, Barbados Gazette, British Caribbean News, Caribbean ET Roundup, Caribbean Financials, Cuba Chronicle, Dominica Gazette, Dominican Republic Post, Dutch Caribbean News, French Caribbean News, Grenada Chronicle, Guyana Inquirer, Haiti Gazette, Jamaica Inquirer, Puerto Rico Tribune, St. Kitts Gazette, St. Lucia Chronicle, St. Vincent Tribune, Trinidad Tribune, the Bajan Reporter , The Bahamas Weekly and Bahamas Local.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. May 13, 2013: The Obama administration is sending a representative to Invest Caribbean Now this June, as the Caribbean Diaspora in the U.S. gears up for Caribbean American Heritage Month and Caribbean Week in New York.

Anthony Eterno, of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Caribbean Affairs, Western Hemisphere division, will attend the June 5^th forum in New York City and speak on the US’ views on trade and investment in the Caribbean.

Eterno is a 15-year veteran diplomat with the Department who has worked in the Caribbean for close to two years and whose expertise includes economic affairs.

Invest Caribbean Now is organized annually by The Caribbean Tourism Organization and digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications, during Caribbean Week in New York. This year it is being presented by marquee sponsor, Avalon Partners in conjunction with The Turks & Caicos Islands Investment Agency and One Caribbean Television.

This year the event is set for the Radisson Martinique hotel in New York City from 7:30- to 11:30 a.m. and will be preceded by an invitation only reception at The Yale Club on June 4^th.

Other speakers will include Alan Lowenstein of Wedgewood Investment Group; Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Dr. Rufus Ewing; Finance Minister of the Turks & Caicos Islands, Washington Misick and panellists on Development Tourism as well as on China and the Caribbean.

Government attendees will include Governor of the US Virgin Islands, John Percy de Jongh, Jr; Chief Minister of Anguilla, Hubert Hughes; Chairman of the CTO and Commissioner of Tourism For the USVI, Beverly Nicholson Doty; Minister of Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt; Lorne Theophilus, Minister for Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia; Stephen Cadiz, Minister of Tourism, Trinidad &  Tobago; Orville London, Sec. of the House of Assembly, Tobago; Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation – Tobago and Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Hugh Riley. Private sector reps will come from JP Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Nomura, CIBC World Capital, Ibis Investments, Aegis Capital, Portfolio Credit Management Limited, DHL, Marriott International, Spackman Capital, the Lugano Group, Damoola, One Caribbean Television, Avalon Partners, Digicel, TCI and Scotiabank TCI.

Only a few tickets at $185 each are still available for the June 5th forum at http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=7phqhyn6&oeidk=a07e6oz57kp0f880fbe

Supplementary information on the event can be found on the event’s pages on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/invest.caribbean and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/InvestingCarib

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 3, 2013: The deadline for exhibitors and advertisers to sign up for the Avalon Invest Caribbean Now 2013 forum is drawing to a close and so is the opportunity to reach and do business with almost a dozen Caribbean governments, investors and high net worth delegates.

Invest Caribbean Now, (ICN), which is presented annually by The Caribbean Tourism Organization, (CTO), and digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications during Caribbean Week in New York and Caribbean American Heritage Month in the United States, is set for June 5^th from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Radisson Martinique Hotel, 49 West 32 Street in New York City. An invitation only VIP reception at The Yale Club, presented by The Government of The Turks & Caicos Islands, will precede the event on June 4th.

The definitive Caribbean investment forum, will feature a United Nations-type “general assembly” of ministers from about a dozen nations from the Caribbean, including a delegation from the Turks & Caicos Islands led by Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing Finance Minister and Washington Misick; Minister of Tourism & International Transport, International Trade, Industry, Commerce & Consumer Affairs St. Kitts, Ricky Skerritt; Chief Minister of Anguilla, Hubert Hughes; Minister for Tourism, Heritage and Creative Industries, St. Lucia, Lorne Theophilus; Chairman of the CTO and Commissioner of Tourism for the USVI, Beverly Nicholson Doty and Assemblyman Tracy Davidson-Celestine, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary, Division of Tourism and Transportation of Tobago, among others.

Only six exhibitor table spots are available and four ad spots remain in the 2013 Program Directory. Interested companies can email Joe Bernstein at [email protected] before May 7^th to sign up or get more information at http://investcaribbeannow.com/partnership-options/

Speakers will include Alan Loewenstein of Wedgewood Capital; Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing and Minister Washington Misick of the Turks & Caicos Islands; Sun Guoxiang, the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in New York City; Chair of the CTO, Beverly Nicholson-Doty, Brian Lilly, CEO of Lilly Broadcasting and One Caribbean Television, Ganesh Ramanathan of Hard Beat Communications, and Grace Lappin of Avalon Partners.

Tickets for the June 5th forum are now $185 and only a few remain at http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=7phqhyn6&oeidk=a07e6oz57kp0f880fbe

Invest Caribbean Now is the most promoted event on the Caribbean Week in New York calendar, with over 200 media placements to date in the US, Caribbean and Latin American media and advertising via 30 media partners – on television, on radio and the web.

ICN 2013 is made possible with sponsorship dollars from marquee sponsor Avalon Partners, gold and reception sponsor, The Government of the Turks & Caicos Islands; and bronze sponsor, One Caribbean Television.