Canada Opens Doors for Belizean Women Entrepreneur

Belizean women entrepreneurs are gaining a powerful advantage today, a new gateway to global markets. Caribbean Export has officially launched the GRIT Project, short for Generating Resilient and Inclusive Trade. It’s a four-year initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada, designed to help women-led businesses thrive beyond our borders. The project will provide training, market intelligence, and export readiness support, giving women the tools they need to compete internationally. Organizers say it’s all about resilience, inclusion, and creating opportunities for Belizean women to scale up and succeed. Shane Williams has more on how this program could transform the business landscape for women across the country.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

Women entrepreneurs from across Belize gathered for the launch of the GRIT Project, an initiative designed to help women-led businesses compete internationally.

 

Narda Garcia, C.E.O., Office of Prime Minister & Investment

“The choice of the name GRIT is, I believe, a stroke of genius. For grit is precisely what defines the spirit of a Belizean woman. It is the determination to turn an idea into an enterprise. It is the perseverance to navigate challenges from market access to financing. It is the unwavering courage to build something from the ground up, not just for personal success but for the prosperity of families and communities across our nation.”

 

More than eight hundred women entrepreneurs across six Caribbean nations, including Belize, will benefit from this four-year GRIT initiative. The program offers training, market insights, and standardization support to help businesses break into international markets.

 

Ishmael Quirroz, Executive Director, BELTRAIDE

“So Caribbean export, uh, and Bell Trade have a longstanding relationship of collaboration whereby we partner to implement capacity building initiatives and projects to the benefit of businesses in Belize, entrepreneurs in Belize who have an interest in tapping into export markets. And so this is an example of a brand new initiative that is a regional project, but that Belize is a beneficiary of and that will benefit, uh, Belgian entrepreneurs, specifically women who are interested in getting into the export market.”

 

The first target market is Canada, home to millions of potential customers.

 

Wayne Elliot, Technical Programs Manager, CEDA

“GRIT project essentially is a three-million-dollar Canadian funded project, which essentially helps Caribbean women in six countries really. Expand the businesses and work towards becoming more export ready and ultimately treating into international markets, specifically the Canadian market.”

 

Among those seizing the opportunity is Shalwa Leslie of Farm to Perfection. She says her honey business is ready to take on the challenge.

 

Shalwa Leslie, Participant, Farm to Perfection

“For honey, we are from farm to perfection. We produce a hundred percent Belizean honey along with the byproducts from the hive. And so we were equipped with the statistics. Yes, I have done some research so far. It is going to be very difficult, but nothing is easy. Nothing is never, never easy. Um, so we are full force ahead to make our adjustments and to continue to learn and make our way into Canada.”

 

And for businesses like Leslie’s to be welcomed into international markets, they must be legally registered and compliant with domestic and foreign standards and requirements.

 

Shalwa Leslie

“We need to formalize our businesses. A farm to perfection is still working on some areas that we are not formalized. We’re taking advantage of tax break as well. We are not fully formalized in that area, but this is where growth comes in. So we can’t stop and say, ‘I’m not formalized. How can you help me with that?’ We need to do those things, and then the door opens, which is exactly what Canada has done for us.”

 

Caribbean Export will work closely with entrepreneurs to build capacity and develop market entry strategies.

 

Wayne Elliot

“We’re gonna be building their capacity, working along with them, planning, designing, and helping them to really think through market entry strategies, product development; building capacity all the way around with the businesses, meeting them where they are within their communities and really getting into the weeds as to how it is that we can best prepare them for, international, market penetration.”

 

Caribbean Export expects up to ten thousand women to benefit indirectly from GRIT, opening doors for Belizean businesses to thrive internationally. Shane William for News Five.