Help for Turks and Caicos Islands companies from the UK’s Trade and Investment Overseas Network
Turks and Caicos Islands companies seeking to target new international markets, can now do so with the help and advice of the UK’s Trade and Investment (UKTI) Overseas Market Introductory Service.
With a UKTI presence in over 100 markets the chargeable service can help companies:
· access the right international contacts or partners
· find the best way to do business in a market
· achieve a successful market entry strategy
· identify and deal with competition
· identify opportunities and
· increase profits by using effective overseas promotion
“Offering this service to Turks and Caicos Islands businesses is another example of how the UK is working to support the prosperity of its Overseas Territories,” said His Excellency Governor Peter Beckingham.
“The service provides advice and practical help on improving their investment climate and providing a showcase for the opportunities available in the Territories at the annual Business and Investment event in London, which is part of the OT Joint Ministerial Council,” added Governor Beckingham.
Businesses interested in finding out more about the Overseas Market Introductory Service, should contact Charmaine Wright, Senior Trade and Investment Officer, British High Commission, Kingston, Jamaica
TURKS AND CAICOS POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Peter Beckingham, chaired the meeting of the Cabinet at the Hilly Ewing Building, in Providenciales, yesterday Wednesday, 4th June 2014 where all Ministers were present.
At this meeting Cabinet:
Advised the Governor to approve the Payroll Tax Bill 2014. The Bill will now advance to the House of Assembly;
It was Noted that their was strong financial performance of the Turks and Caicos Islands for the period January 2014 to March 2014 as submitted in the Fourth Quarter Financial Report from the Accountant General.
Cabinet approved the publication of the report as required by Section 46 of the Public Financial Management Ordinance;
The members Agreed to open a consultation on increasing the height limit of buildings in Providenciales to 14 storeys (150 foot.) The consultation will be co-ordinated by the Ministry of Home Affairs and will be open to all interested stakeholders;
Also Approved was the issuance of licenses to the Tourist Board for a Crown land parcels near the Cruise Centre in Grand Turk to be used as a centralized tour operator and taxi dispatch desk and It also a cultural beach market to support and centralize beach vendors serving Cruise Centre passengers;
Cabinet also agreed to award a sitting allowance to the members of the National Honours and Awards Committee in line with the arrangements currently in place for other statutory boards, subject to an amendment to the Ordinance;
The members agreed to open discussions with the TCI Airport Authority to ensure that the Providenciales Airport Master Plan adequately provides for the predicted continued increase in air passenger numbers, and to determine what further developments may be required to meet future demands;
The Education Committee is to begin their work of reviewing scholarship applications for 2014 pending approval of the Budget. Cabinet will review their recommendations in due course, and noted the importance of communicating decisions to applicants in good time to allow them to make them arrangements for starting their education courses;
Cabinet also discussed the appointment of a High Level Inter-Ministerial Committee to support the implementation of the CARICOM Youth Development Action Plan, which aims to guide national and regional integrated planning and action regarding youth. The Committee will include the Minister and the PS of Education, Youth, Sports and Library Services, the PS Finance, the Director of the Department of Social Development, the PS Ministry of Health, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, the PS with responsibility for Department of Planning, the Director of Youth Affairs, youth representatives and other adhoc stakeholders as appropriate;
Noted was a paper from the Deputy Premier informing Cabinet of the formation of a Secondary School Sports Association. The Association enables schools to play a more active role in the planning, organisation and development of the rules and regulations of all inter-high school sporting competitions, which will allow them to better support the growth and maximise the potential of student athletes. In addition, further sports will be added to the 2014/2015 academic roster, including Inter High Rugby, Football and Cricket;
Agreed the appointment of the following persons to the Health Practitioners Ordinance for a period of two (2) years effective 1 May 2014: Minister for Health and Human Services - Chairman; Director of Health Services - Ex-Officio Member; Mrs. Tremaine-Swann Harvey - Member; Ms Charlene Higgs – Member;
Heard an update from the Director of DEMA, Kathleen Wood, on the current state of affairs concerning the damage caused to coral reef off the coast of Providenciales by the MY White Cloud. Ms Wood advised a contractor had been appointed to carry out repairs to the site, which will be paid for by the yacht's insurers, and work would begin in mid-June. Cabinet was also informed negotiations were underway with all parties regarding a final financial settlement;
Agreed to increase the taxi quotas as follows: in Providenciales from 150 to 175 (and from 40-60 private transfer reserve) and in Grand Turk from 45 to 55 (and from 15-25 private transfer reserve.)
Two Island groups.
Did you know that our Islands are divided into two main groups? The Turks Islands are separated from the Caicos Islands by the 22-mile “Columbus passage” named in honor of Christopher Columbus, based on the controversial claim that Columbus made his first landfall in the “New World on the island of Grand Turk in 1492.
Salt Cay & Grand Turk Islands
Did you know that our Islands are divided into two groups? The Turks Islands comprise of Grand Turk and Salt Cay. The Caicos Islands, the largest in the chain, comprise of South Caicos, East Caicos, Middle Caicos, North Caicos, West Caicos, Providenciales, Pine and Parrot Cay. West Caicos and Ambergris Cay are fast becoming inhabited as development projects on the two islands materialise.
TCI Islands
Did you know that the Turks and Caicos Islands are an archipelago of about forty islands and cays at the southern end of the Bahamas chain.
Only six large islands and several small cays are inhabited. The inhabited Islands range from Middle Caicos (48 sq.miles) to Salt Cay (2.5 sq miles).
The total land area is 193 square miles. TCI has a population of 31,438 according to the 2012 census.
Maleficient rules at the box office
Disney live-action film Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, has debuted at the top of the North American box office, taking $70m (£41m).
The film, based on the villain from Sleeping Beauty, has given Jolie her biggest box office debut to date.
"The whole movie kind of rises and sets on her performance," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak.
Last weekend's number one, X-Men: Days of Future Past, dropped to second It took $32.6 million (£19.4m).
3) A Million Ways to Die in the West $17.1m (£10.2m)
4) Godzilla $12.2m (£7.3m)
5) Blended $8.4m (£5m)
Source-BBC
Airline profits in 2014 to be hit by China
The global airline industry's profit forecast for this year has been cut amid fears over China's economic growth, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
The trade body predicts airlines will make $18bn (£10.7bn) in profit in 2014, lower than its $18.7bn March forecast.
It blamed concerns over the Chinese economy's performance and a slowdown in world trade for the downgrade.
The industry faced "strong headwinds", IATA director general Tony Tyler said.
He said rising infrastructure costs, inefficiencies in air traffic management, a heavy tax burden and costly regulation were all expected to weigh on the airline industry this year.
IATA predicted that total revenues for airlines would reach $746bn in 2014.
"The brutal economic reality is we will earn an average net margin of just 2.4%," added Mr Tyler.
Source-BBC
Apple unveils iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite
Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday to announce the latest features for iPhones, iPads and Macs.
Apple (AAPL) unveiled iOS 8, an update to the operating system that powers iPhones and iPads. It will be available for download in the fall.
One of the biggest additions to iOS 8 is a new HealthKit application. The app will monitor users' heart rates, sleep, weight and blood pressure among other health-related information.
HealthKit will allow clinicians at the Mayo Clinic to send health information to a user's app, which can in turn send that data to a user's primary physician. It also syncs with third-party fitness devices and apps.
Apple also unveiled HomeKit, a new platform that would enable people to control all the items in their homes with the iPad or iPhone. That means iOS 8 will let people manage their lights, cameras, door locks, switches, plugs, thermostats and other connected devices.
Brothers murdered execution style in Trinidad
Police are searching for the gunmen who stormed into a house in Morvant and shot and killed, execution style, two brothers, including a nine-year-old on Sunday.
Police said the gunmen entered the house and ordered the occupants, including nine-year-old Jadel Holder and his older brother, Jamal Brathwaite, 15, to lie on the ground before shooting them in the head.
A 16-year-old neighbour, Glendel Alexander, who was at the house of the time, was shot in the leg, while Michelle Holder, the mother of the dead brothers, escaped unhurt.
Investigators said despite his age, Brathwaite was well known to police, who they suspect had recently been initiated into the gang, which operates in his community. He was also a suspect in several recent shootings in the Morvant area on the outskirts of the capital.
Residents described Brathwaite as a “trouble maker” and dropped out of school at the primary school level, while the nine-year-old is reported to have been a follower of his elder brother.
The murders bring to 185, the number of people murdered here so far this year. Last year the figure for the corresponding period was 154.
Maya Angelou 'the brightest light' says Barack Obama
US President Barack Obama has led the tributes to Maya Angelou, describing the poet, author and activist as "one of the brightest lights of our time".
He hailed Angelou, who has died aged 86, as "a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman".
She made her name with the memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which charted a childhood of oppression and abuse in the Deep South in the 1930s.
Her family described her as "a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace".
Former President Bill Clinton, who invited Angelou to read at his 1993 inauguration, said America had lost a national treasure and he and wife Hillary had lost "a beloved friend".
"The poems and stories she wrote and read to us in her commanding voice were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and grace," he said.
Others paying tribute included civil rights campaigner Reverend Jesse Jackson, who wrote on Twitter: "The renaissance woman has made a peaceful transition. She acted, sang, danced & taught She used poetry as a road for peace."
Her career had many outlets, straddling television, theatre, film, children's books and music.
Angelou was also a prominent civil rights activist and a friend of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.