Senator Chris Coye Appointed Special Envoy for Finance and Investment

Belize has a new point man for big‑ticket deals, and he’s no stranger to the financial playbook. Attorney and government senator Christopher Coye has been formally tapped as Belize’s Special Envoy for Finance and Investments, a role that effectively places him at the center of the country’s money‑moving and deal‑making efforts. The appointment, signed by Governor General Froyla Tzalam and published in the Belize Gazette, actually kicked in on January first, giving Coye a retroactive start to a four‑year mandate. In plain terms, he now has the authority to act on the government’s behalf in all things finance and investment, with full backing from the ministries tied to economic transformation, civil aviation, and e‑governance.It’s a familiar arena for Coye. He previously served as Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance before stepping down in September 2025, just months after the P.U.P.’s sweeping election victory. Since then, he’s returned to private legal practice while continuing his work in the Senate. We reached out to Senator Coye today. He told News Five he’s ready to hit the ground running, saying he’s “willing to use my experience and networking, at the Prime Minister’s prerogative, to attract finance and investments to the Government of Belize and to Belize.” His new appointment positions him as a key figure in shaping the country’s economic future, right as Belize eyes major investment opportunities ahead.

 

Zabaneh Responds to Courtenay Coye Criticism

 

The Ministry of Transport is moving full steam ahead with its plans for the new National Bus Company, and this week we learned they’ve hired the law firm Courtenay Coye LLP to handle all the legal paperwork. Naturally, that choice has raised a few eyebrows, and sparked some early criticism. So today, we put the question directly to Transport Minister Louis Zabaneh: Why this firm, and is he concerned about the blowback? Here’s how he answered.

 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport

“I think that is partly coming from maybe a political angle. My responsibility as the minister of transportation is to make sure we hire the best people who have the capacity and in terms of public private partnerships and the legislation, back to the case of the National Gas Company and the Southern Deep Port, they were the ones who handled that. And they have that capacity. In our discussion with he AG office it was confirmed that these were the people who have that capacity and so we went ahead. So we went ahead and they have been producing timely and giving us good advice. We want that at the end of the day that the NBC develops properly and that all the legal issues that needs to be considered are considered so that it can have sustainability and viability going forward.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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