CaribPR Wire

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]

NECKER ISLAND, British Virgin Islands, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – In a joint effort to safeguard and bolster the Caribbean region’s tourism-dependent economy, fifteen Caribbean governments and seventeen corporations met on Necker Island, home of Sir Richard Branson, in the British Virgin Islands this weekend and committed approximately $64 million USD to preserve and protect the region’s marine and coastal environment, and accelerate efforts to transition to renewable energy.

“Protecting and harnessing the natural world is the greatest opportunity of our lifetimes,” said Sir Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group. “We can’t have much economic growth without a healthy Caribbean environment, and we can’t have a healthy Caribbean environment without healthy economic development. Solving the energy challenge and marine conservation challenge in the Caribbean go hand-in-hand.”

The event, launching the second phase of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI), was co-hosted by the Prime Minister of Grenada, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, and Sir Richard Branson.  The event’s sponsoring partner was Tiffany & Co. Foundation, and the event was organized by The Nature Conservancy, with support from Virgin Unite, the non-profit entrepreneurial foundation of the Virgin Group, and the Carbon War Room.

“We are honored to be part of such a historic event, and we applaud our fellow Caribbean nations participating in this Summit,” said Prime Minister Dr. the Right Honourable Keith C. Mitchell of Grenada. “We are charting a path for future generations, stressing the importance of conservation throughout the region.”

“Governments and their people, companies and their consumers, and local communities all must work together to protect this beautiful region,” said Glenn Prickett, Chief External Affairs Officer for The Nature Conservancy. “This event has demonstrated that no longer is protecting nature viewed as a luxury, it is critical to the success of the region’s economy.”

Commitments announced at the Summit by individual governments to support these efforts included the establishment of a national trust fund to protect biodiversity in The Bahamas; adoption of a Protected Areas System Plan to protect 33 percent of marine and coastal environments in the British Virgin Islands; the establishment of 14 fish sanctuaries in Jamaica; a commitment to double the number of protected areas in Puerto Rico; Grenada’s reaffirmation to protect 25 percent of its marine and coastal environment; and Belize’s commitment to protect 30 percent of its marine and coastal environments with over 10 designated as no-take fishing zones.

In addition to these commitments, Defend Paradise, a campaign designed to generate funding for marine conservation in the Caribbean and raise consumer awareness of the marine environment was launched.

Access the full press release, video footage from the Caribbean Summit and photos.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, May 4, 2012: The momentum is building to the most talked about Caribbean investment forum that brings together ministers of government with investors in New York City, the investment capital of the world.

Invest Caribbean Now 2012, which will honour world renowned business leader, Sir Richard Branson, is now just 33 days away and tickets are in going fast for the June 6, 2012 emerging market meeting, set for 7:30 to 10 a.m. at the Marquis Ballroom of the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, organizers say.

The power forum, a partnership between the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the regional tourism arm and digital media company, Hard Beat Communications, will see panellists addressing the question: “Is The Caribbean, The Next China, India Or Brazil?”

Invest Caribbean Now comes as Chinese investment in the Caribbean continues to boom in this free trade region that is politically stable and boosts attractive tax incentives, a highly literate work force and an established tourism market, and which the International Monetary Fund and World Bank forecast will see a 3.5 percent growth into 2013, higher than those of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and similar to those of East Asia.

“If you are  a private equity investor, investment banker, financier, real estate developer, hotel chain executive, lawyers, architect or entrepreneur, looking to grow your money and do business in an emerging market that is on the up and up, then this is a can’t miss event,” said Felicia Persaud, co-convener of Invest Caribbean Now and CEO of Hard Beat. “To book last minute seats to the event log on now to InvestCaribbeanNow.com.”

Panellists for the annual power forum this June include feature Chairman of Blue Equity, Jonathan Blue; President and co-founder of Solamon Energy Corp, Jay Yeo and Lisa Lake, the chief development director of the Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship – Caribbean; Hon. Ricky Skerritt, chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Minister of Tourism & International Transport of St. Kitts & Nevis and an official of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration.

Blue, who already invests in the Caribbean, commented: “Our initial entry in the Caribbean market has led us to more progressive and larger scale opportunities in which we are investing or are continuing to evaluate.  We look forward to expanding our Caribbean presence in the very near future.”

“The Caribbean region is rich in entrepreneurial spirit and in opportunities to grow the economy. Tourism has sustained this region for many years. We now need to develop and add diversity to the market by investing in the skills of entrepreneurs in the Caribbean and to help them scale their businesses and employ people while to competing in a global market,”    Lake added.

The forum will also include an interactive question and answer segment as well as a one hour match making/networking session to allow for attendees to do business.

For exhibitor and additional sponsorship opportunities email Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

Invest Caribbean Now 2012 sponsors include La Chambre Consulaire Interprofessionnelle de Saint-Martin, (CCISM) and One Caribbean Television while supporting sponsors are the PR Newswire, WSEE TV, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, Damoola Inc., The Museum of American Finance and The Affiliated Lawyers of the Americas.

Additional information on the event can be found at InvestCaribbeanNow.com, the event’s pages on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Invest-Caribbean/100002110419705 and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/InvestingCarib. When tweeting about this event, use #InvestCarib.