Caribbean Business Hub (CBH) was a guest on Thursday evening, October 24, at the Curaçao House in The Hague, the Cabinet of the Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao. It was a very animated meeting with guests from, among others, transport, law, architecture, education, trade and government. Special guest was Jandino Asporaat, TV star and actor and originally from Curacao. The embassy of Santo Domingo was represented by the Counselor.
The chairman of CBH, Nico de Visser, spoke about the ambitions of CBH for the coming year. More emphasis will be placed on creating a platform of entrepreneurs and professionals in the Netherlands. Furthermore, an international network of CBH ambassadors will be set up, where members can always go for information and advice. Anthony Begina, Minister Plenipotentiary of Curaçao, then briefly and powerfully indicated the challenges facing the island of Curacao. Especially, the crisis in Venezuela has a lot of impact. That does not make it easier to strengthen one’s own government. But recently a growth strategy has been agreed with the Netherlands for the coming three years which will strengthen the economy of the island on various fronts. The first successes can already be reported, such as a planned growth in hotel rooms of more than 2,000, vacant space around the refinery, completion of the new medical center, investment plans in downtown Willemstad, and even more.
Jan-Willem van den Braak, former director of VNO-NCW in Brussels, member of SER, outlined the positive developments on Bonaire. He is vice-president of Central Dialogue Bonaire, a consultative body of employers, employees, local government and Chamber of Commerce. For 2020, the parties are joining forces to implement the necessary reforms.
As one of the members of CBH, Mr Silvino Seymour from International Ambitious gave a pitch about successful trade missions to Curaçao. Mr Van den Tweel, known from the supermarkets on the islands, among other things, emphasized the opportunities that lie on Curaçao, just like Jandino Asporaat. They encouraged the entrepreneurs and investors present to invest in Curaçao. There was also a lot of opportunity to network while enjoying a delicious buffet and a drink.
Photos by Nico van der Ven, press photographer https://www.linkedin.com/in/nico-nivenpress-44bb674/?originalSubdomain=nl
Caribbean Business Hub, Corinne&Germaine Hernandez, Lionel Martijn, Georgo Muller, Nico de Visser, http://caribbeanbusinesshub.nl/
Jandino Asporaat, https://www.jandino.nl/
Jan-Willem van den Braak, https://www.centraaldialoogbonaire.com/
Silvino Seymor, http://www.internationaalambitieus.com/
Gerard van den Tweel, https://www.vandentweelgroep.nl/
