Business View Caribbean - October 2015 17
the Chamber of Commerce building in Concordia
where the spotlight was put squarely on tourism
investment opportunities in the French Caribbean
Island. It was the first time ICN had taken its confer-
ence overseas.
The event featured several local government officials
including Senator Guillaume Arnell; Hon. Jeanne
Rogers-Vanterpool, and Vice-president of Economic
Development Wendel Cocks, harbour developers as
well as several local stake holders and over three
dozen Beijing company executives.
ICN’s Felicia J. Persaud, ICN’s founder and CEO,
thanked Saint Martin for welcoming the conference
to its shores and urged the government to continue
to work on creative “private – public sector partner-
ships.”
“We must move beyond petty politics and arrogant
perceived power and understand that our growth as
an island – and as a region – is tied to relationship
building globally – whether in the Caribbean Dias-
pora, the US, China, Europe, Africa or other areas
around the world,” Persaud said. “The competitive
nature of the global market place demands such ac-
tion and we cannot be left behind in 2015. We must
think global and act global!”
The summit this year made history in the North-East
Caribbean with the attendance of a delegation of
over 40-Beijing companies and organizations.
Speakers from the Chinese delegation included
Qin, Guoying, Secretary-General of China Women’s
Development Foundation; Xiong, Yumei, Executive
President of the China Women Tourism Committee;
Zheng, Yaoxing, Dean Of The Tourism Department,
Fujian Normal University And Strait Tourism College;
Yin, Zhijun, Chairman, The Beijing Lao She Teahouse
Co., Ltd; Guo, LiFeng, CEO, BESTONE Jewelry
Company; and Li Li, the Executive Director Of The
Sino-American Friendship Association.
The 2015 event was presented by the Government
of the Collectivité of French Saint-Martin, The Of-
fice of Tourism of Saint-Martin and executives at In-
vest Caribbean Now (ICN), in collaboration with the
Sino-American Friendship Association, the Chinese
American Business Development Center of New
York, the St. Martin Harbor, Hard Beat Communi-
cations, One Caribbean Television, the St. Maarten
Chinese Association, CaribPRWire and News Amer-
icas Now.
