CaribPR Wire

W. Dave Dowrich, VP of Investment at Goldman Sachs, 2nd from r., with Chairman of the CTO, Ricky Skerritt, l; Minister Minors of Bermuda, 2.d from l., and Brian Lilly, r., CEO of Lilly Broadcasting and owner of WSEE TV and One Caribbean Weather, premier sponsors of the event. (Sharon Bennett image)

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. June 10, 2011: The Caribbean is being urged to compete for the global “wallet share” and step up the promotion of “its investment story.”

That’s the advice from W. Dave Dowrich, vice president of investment at Goldman Sachs and the keynote speaker at the inaugural Invest Caribbean Power Forum, convened by digital media solutions company, Hard Beat Communications and the Caribbean Tourism Organization in New York City on Thursday, June 9, 2011.

Dowrich, addressing a packed room at the New York Marriot Marquis Hotel in Times Square, insisted that the Caribbean’s investment “product” stacks up against most other regions of the world, including the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India and China) on several fronts, such as political stability, accessibility and ease of doing business.

But “where we fall down is in selling and telling our investment story, i.e. the ‘Promotion – P’ of the principles of marketing,” he said of the CARICOM region, whose combined Gross Domestic Product is put at US$90 billion.

Comparing the Caribbean to private companies going public and the need to ensure that their story continues being told to their existing and future investor base, Dowrich said the Caribbean and its leaders must see investment in a similar vein.

“We therefore need to be sure that at every opportunity, our story is told on a consistent basis and told by credible and trust worthy folks such as our senior ministers, and then reinforced by our teams on the ground, who can ‘talk the talk’ of those that need to hear it,” he said.

Dowrich was one of four speakers who addressed the event yesterday. Others included Minister of Business Development & Tourism of Bermuda, Patrice Kimberly Minors; Martin Mohabeer, the Guyana-born Managing Director of Spackman Group and CEO of Spackman Capital and David Brillembourg, CEO of the Brilla Group.

Minors for her part insisted that Bermuda remains open to doing business while Brillembourg advised that attention be turned to Latin American pension funds as potential investors in the Caribbean region.

Mohabeer announced the SEAF Caribbean Growth Fund, insisting that the Caribbean small business market is “tremendously underserved.”

“With this fund we hope to change that,” said Mohabeer, while adding that the fund will make investments in small to middle enterprise firms specializing in IT, media and technology and construction among other sectors.

Among the over 120 attendees at the event were several money managers from the New York’s investment community as well as top tourism officials from the Caribbean including the Hon. Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Minister of Tourism and International Travel for St. Kitts/Nevis, Ricky Skerritt; Hon. Richard Sealy, Minister of Tourism, Barbados; Hon. Ed Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica; Commissioner of Tourism of St. Eustacius, Clyde Van Putten; Secretary General of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, Hugh Riley; Sylma Brown Bramble, director of CTO North America; Alec Sanguinetti, Director General of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, Josef Forstmayr, President, Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, and other top CTO officials as well as  Caribbean directors of tourism.

“This event surpassed our expectation,” said Felicia Persaud, CEO of Hard Beat Communications, which conceptualized and co-presented the event with the CTO. “We look forward to making this an annual part of Caribbean Week in New York.”

“The Caribbean Tourism Organization was proud to team up with Hard Beat to present this event, since in these tough economic times, investment in the Caribbean is critical and the CTO believes strongly in continuing to boost the tourism sector of this vibrant region by presenting investment opportunities for its members,” commented Brown-Bramble.

The Bermuda Department of Tourism and the Pennsylvania-based WSEE TV and OneCaribbeanWeather.com, both part of Lilly Broadcasting Corporation, were the official sponsors of the ‘Invest Caribbean Power Breakfast.’

Additional sponsors included the PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, The Bahamas Weekly, News Americas Now and the Caribbean American Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

ABOUT HARD BEAT COMMUNICATIONS

Hard Beat Communications brands itself as a Digital Media Solutions Company. The company does this through its Digital Content Creation and Dissemination and syndicated digital newswire – New Americas Now, formerly CaribWorldNews, its CaribPR wire release dissemination section, part of the PR Newswire; its Media Buying and Event Promotions arm and its New Media Solutions department.

ABOUT THE CTO

The Caribbean Tourism Organization exists to increase significantly the inclusion of the Caribbean region in the set of destinations being considered by travelers. The CTO, with headquarters in Barbados, comprises 32 member countries, including English, French, Spanish and Dutch countries and territories, as well as private sector allied members. Every year, the CTO presents “Caribbean Week In New York,” which Caribbean Week in New York is a celebration of the sights, sounds, colors, culture and unique vacation attributes of the Caribbean.

Carib PR Newswire, NEW YORK, NY, April 22, 2011: An investment banker at full-service global investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs, born to Barbadian parents in Toronto, Canada, is set to deliver the key note address at the 2011 Invest Caribbean Power Breakfast this June in New York City.  

Wendell Dave Dowrich, Vice President of Risk and Capital Markets in the Financial Institutions Group at Goldman Sachs, will address Caribbean ministers of tourism and delegates of the June 9^th event, set for 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the New York Marriott Marquis in NYC.

The event, part of Caribbean Week in New York, is being presented by the Caribbean Tourism Organization and digital media solutions firm, Hard Beat Communications, Inc., in collaboration with the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Dowrich, whose responsibilities at Goldman include providing risk management advice to insurance companies, with specific focus on capital markets reinsurance, will speak on the prospects for international investment in the Caribbean region.

Before Goldman, Dowrich worked at Credit Suisse and prior to that appointment, was the Head of Corporate Planning & Analysis for Swiss Re’s life reinsurance business for North America, where he was responsible for performance measurement, performance enhancement, capital management and management reporting for the North American operations.

 He began his career in employee benefits consulting in Toronto, Canada before relocating to Barbados to become a member of the management team of the Barbados reinsurance operations of a Canadian insurance company.

Dowrich attended primary and secondary school in Barbados and holds an Honors Bachelor of Science degree from University of Toronto, Canada, with majors in Actuarial Science and Applied Statistics, as well as an MBA with a major in Finance, from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.  He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries.

David Brillembourg, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the Brilla Group, a private equity real estate firm focused exclusively on acquiring luxury beachfront hotel and resort assets in South Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Colombia, will also speak at the event that is set to feature top Caribbean Tourism Organization officials, government ministers and directors, New York City elected officials and investors, lenders and entrepreneurs.

“For the very first time in the history of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Caribbean Week in New York, an investment component has been added and we’re very proud to be working with the CTO to make this happen,” said Hard Beat Communications CEO, Felicia Persaud. “This event is a must attend for interested in investing in ‘Paradise’ or for those seeking to learn of the opportunities there.”

Sponsors to date include the PR Newswire, CaribPR Wire, The Bahamas Weekly, and News Americas Now.

For additional sponsorship opportunities or breakfast tickets call 646-820-5694 or log on to: http://investcaribbeannow.com/.

ABOUT THE CTO

The Caribbean Tourism Organization exists to increase significantly the inclusion of the Caribbean region in the set of destinations being considered by travelers. The CTO, with headquarters in Barbados, comprises 32 member countries, including English, French, Spanish and Dutch countries and territories, as well as private sector allied members. Every year, the CTO presents “Caribbean Week In New York,” which Caribbean Week in New York is a celebration of the sights, sounds, colors, culture and unique vacation attributes of the Caribbean.

ABOUT HARD BEAT COMMUNICATIONS

Hard Beat Communications brands itself as a Digital Media Solutions Company. The company does this through its PR Wire and Digital Content Creation and Dissemination and syndicated digital newswire – New Americas Now, formerly CaribWorldNews, its Media Buying and Event Promotions arm and its New Media Solutions department.
 

ABOUT THE CARIBBEAN AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

The Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (CACCI), founded in August 1985, is a statewide membership organization, which has developed expertise in providing business assistance to small and start-up business owners, in areas of business planning, financing, procurement, certification, expansion, and export/import opportunities.