Invest Caribbean Now To Explore Micro-Fund Launch

Felicia J. Persaud, founder, Invest Caribbean Now making the announcement at the June 4, 2014 summit. (Sharon Bennett Image)

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. June 5, 2014: An exploratory committee to pursue the start of a micro-fund for the Caribbean will be launched in the coming months, Invest Caribbean Now (ICN) founder and chairman Felicia J. Persaud announced at the fourth ICN summit Wednesday.

Persaud, delivering opening remarks to delegates gathered at the June 4th summit, said the decision is the next step in the growth of ICN.

“We’re not simply here to have a grand talk each year,” Persaud said. “We are focused on socio-economic investment and outside the box ideas that can foster growth. It is why today I am pleased to announce the formation later this year of an exploratory committee to pursue the launch of the Invest Caribbean Now micro-fund for the region.”

Addressing an audience that included top delegates from around the world and across the U.S., including dignitaries from China and the Caribbean, Persaud urged those gathered to join the effort “because at the end of the day, in this technological era, this is the key to advancing wealth in any region.”

Among the top list of delegates in attendance at ICN 2014 were Dr. Ma Lin, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government; Premier of the island of Nevis; Vance Amory; Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications of Trinidad & Tobago, Senator Vasant Bharath; Minister of Tourism And International Transport, St. Kitts, Senator Ricky Skerritt; Minister of Tourism, St. Martin, Jeanne Rogers-Vanderpool; Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Commissioner of Tourism, USVI Department of Tourism, Beverly Nicholson Doty; Chairman of the CARICOM Consular Corps of NY and Deputy Consul General, Antigua & Barbuda, Omyma David; Consul General of St. Lucia to New York, Julian DuBois; Claire McLeveighn, Vice President, Trade and Investment International Division, at the Empire State Development Corporation and Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia representing the 33rd District of Hoboken, Jersey City, Union City and Weehawken in New Jersey.

Top corporate delegates were also in attendance including from Merrill Lynch, the World Bank Group; Goldman Sachs, OPIC; Sandals Resorts International; DHL Caribbean, HBO Latin America, One Caribbean Television, First Citizens TT, InvesTT, interCaribbean Airways; Bright Capital; Aegis Capital; Medici Group, Adiuvo Partners LLP, The Lugano Group, The Woody Wilson Fine Clothing of Beverly Hills; Global Med Choices, American World Clinic; Aspenall Energies;  MPowered, Sir Richard Branson’s, Carbon War Room; The Goodness Compan, China Daily USA; Caribbean Commerce Magazine; NATCOM International, One Caribbean Television, FlyingICU, GeoTechVision, Auto Planet Japan Ltd., Super Green Solutions, Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, Invest Saint Lucia, K&L Gates, Lu Ning Architecture, New Sports Group, The Pont Group, Damoola Inc., the Chinese American Business Development Center, The Sino-American Friendship Association and the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce.

2014 HONOREES

Sandals Resorts Chairman and Founder Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart was on hand to receive his ICN 2014 Leadership Award, which he accepted on behalf of the over 6,000 employees at Sandals.

Javier Figueras, corporate vice president of Affiliate Relations at HBO Latin America, leading a team of ten to the event, accepted the ICN 2014 Alliance Award on behalf of the company which has developed affiliate relations with several Caribbean stations including TiVi S.A., the fast-growing television provider in Haiti.

The One Caribbean Television team, led by Brian Lilly and including Kara Coleman, Joey Stevens and Bob Misculich, accepted the ICN 2014 Media Visionary Award while First Citizens Jason Julien and Sana Ragbir received the 2014 ICN Service Excellence Award in Banking on behalf of the company.

interCaribbean Airways CEO Trevor Sadler was on hand to accept the ICN 2014 Visionary Award on behalf of his chairman and company while DHL Caribbean executives, including managing director Reiner Wolfs, received the ICN 2014 Service Excellence Award in Logistics.

The 2014 ICN summit was presented under the theme, “Advancing Wealth.”

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ICN PARTNERS

Presenters for ICN 2014 included: Hard Beat Communications, The Caribbean Tourism Organization, One Caribbean Television, The Woody Wilson Collection of Beverly Hills, The PR Newswire, the Caribbean Commerce Magazine, Blinglets, The Caribbean Council for Economic Development, the World Tourism Cities Federation, China Daily, InvesTT, the Chinese Business Development Center, the Sino-American Friendship Association, Martinique Promotion Bureau- CMT USA,  CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, the Jamaica Observer, CaribSeek, WINN-FM and GCaribbean Magazine.