The Caribbean region remains a great business investment and still offers “the single best holiday product in the world.”

So insists Chairman of Sandals Resorts International, Hon. Gordon “Butch” Stewart, OJ, CD, Hon. LLD, the man who built a tourism empire in the Caribbean from the ground-up and today remains active in investments across the region.

The Jamaican-born Stewart’s pearls of wisdom to global investors come as he gears up to receive the 2014 Invest Caribbean Now Leadership Award this June 4, 2014 at the Harvard Club in New York City.

Invest Caribbean Now, the biggest global summit on the Caribbean outside the region, is honoring Stewart this year for his investment, commitment and dedication to the Caribbean “and for inspiring us all.” Past ICN honorees have included Sir Richard Branson and Royal Caribbean Cruises International.

Stewart, former CEO of Air Jamaica and President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, calls it “an honor to be considered a leader among those serving and succeeding in the Caribbean.”

“My work here, the companies I have built, the jobs we have created and the people we have served are the best example of what is possible in the Caribbean and why we must continue to invest here at home,” he added.

“Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart is a name that has become synonymous with Caribbean tourism globally,” said ICN Founder and Chairman Felicia J. Persaud. “Mr. Stewart is an inspiration to all Caribbean entrepreneurs. He embodies the core value of what can be accomplished through vision, leadership and hard work. There is no one more deserving to receive the prestigious ICN Leadership Award in 2014 and we are honored he will be joining us to accept this award.”

Meanwhile, Stewart warns Caribbean governments to consider the lasting effects of the investment they accept on their resources and their constituencies, especially as he puts it, “it’s not simply about land development or acquisition but about investing in people, giving them the resources and opportunity to contribute in real, meaningful ways.”

“Human capital will always return the greatest reward and is where thoughtful leaders spend their time and their resources,” said the former President of the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica and the country’s one time director of tourism. “As a private investor in the region, our footprint is something we think about every day and we are making conscientious decisions to be good, effective corporate citizens. The fact is job creation leads to immense opportunity in education and no other sector is capable of distributing wealth as rapidly and efficiently as the tourism dollar.”

Multiple-Award Emmy winning TV Anchor, Ernie Anastos, will emcee the Summit beginning at 11:30 a.m. on June 4th while Dr. Ma, Lin, Deputy Secretary-General of Beijing Municipal Government will bring greetings and Caribbean scholar Dr. Isaac Newton will deliver the key note address. Trinidad & Tobago’s Minister of Trade, Industry, Investment and Communications, Senator Vasant Bharath will put the spotlight on investment opportunities in the twin-island Republic and Sheila Newton-Moses will put the project spotlight on the Caribbean Market Village.

Panels at the summit will include ‘Global Trends & The Caribbean’ featuring Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal of the Inter-American Development Bank; Janine Craane of Merrill Lynch; Valentin Romanov, Sun Energy, Russia; Sergio Millian, of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and Anthony A. L. Adjasse of the Allied African Nations Chamber Of Commerce and ‘Medical Tourism – The New Trend In Caribbean Tourism,’ with Colin Childress of Global Med Choices, Turks & Caicos; Paul Angelchik of American World Clinics and Patrick Goodness of The Goodness Company of Costa Rica among others.

Additionally, there will be a panel on ‘Clean Energy and the Future of the Caribbean’ with Justin Locke of Sir Richard Branson’s Carbon War Room; Diana Jensen of OPIC; Mark Austin of Bright Capital and Jacques-Philippe Piverger of MPowered as well as a panel on the ‘Emerging Relationship Of Chinese Tourism & Investments In The Caribbean,’ featuring Cao, PengChen of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development among others.

This year’s featured interview will focus on the ‘Caribbean Diaspora As An Investment Source’ with Qahir Dhanani of the World Bank Group; Leigh Moran of the US State Department and USAID’s IdEA and Irwine Clare of the Caribbean Immigrant Services.

Beverly Hills designer to the stars, Woody Wilson, will make a special announcement regarding his line and the Caribbean while offering a preview of his tropical collection for the region to wrap up the summit.

One Caribbean Television weatherman, Joey Stevens, and his famous side-kick, Bob, will host this year’s ICN Awards Reception, set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. It will include remarks from Hollywood Actor Malik Yoba and the presentation of awards to Sandals’ Stewart and four corporations from across the region.

A few partnership sponsorship and advertising opportunities for this event are still available by [email protected] or [email protected] or by logging on to ICN’s summit page at Investcaribbeannow.com. Last minute tickets and table of ten can be purchased here or at https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?oeidk=a07e8uxmuwgc5df4c47&oseq=&c=&ch

Persons looking to do business with top Chinese, Caribbean and Russian delegates can ask about one of ten Diamond Room tickets at $1,000 from Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

This year’s Summit will be live tweeted at twitter.com/InvestingCarib using hashtag Investingcarib. Additionally fans can follow the summit at Facebook or facebook.com/investcaribbeannow

ICN PARTNERS

Presenters for ICN 2014 include: 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, Woody Wilson Fine Clothing, CaribPR Wire, News Americas Now, the Jamaica Observer, CaribSeek, WINN-FM and GCaribbean Magazine.

PHOTO: Chairman of Sandals Resorts International, Hon. Gordon “Butch” Stewart, OJ, CD, Hon. LLD