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caribbean chamber of commerce june 1 s t 2 0 1 2 caribbeanchamber orgi ns i de thi s issue amerijet taxes westjet haiti health legal cif texas business 2 on the move the mission of the caribbean chamber of commerce since it s inception in 2010 has been to commit itself to growth through proper planning new membership acquisition and servicing of existing members through value-added projects the caribbean chamber has formed alliances with various statewide national and international organizations in order to make these projects a reality our vision is to preserve our historic heritage while meeting the changing business needs of our community the chamber is proud to welcome new members amerijet international inc the houston missouri city domino club and jamaica house restaurant our thanks also extends to our first year members tony campbell george wan and richard hutchinson ongoing support and contribution to not only the caribbean chamber but also the other chambers of commerce located in the international trade building as part of our commitment to improving our community we encourage everyone to take advantage of the free computer classes offered every third saturday month thanks to our partnership with the houston library over 150 individuals were able to receive free assistance with computer training as well as resume preparation and job training skills we look forward to continually serving the needs of our community please visit us online www.caribbeanchamber.org 2 3 3 3 4 5 5 6 6 immigration technology congratulations to the jamaica foundation of houston for the excellent first year jaga festival recently held in galveston texas the community looks forward to continued great celebrations in future years we would also like to recognize and thank mr wea lee for his new office location the caribbean chamber of commerce moved into its official office on the 12th of may 2012 the office is located at the international trade center building 11110 bellaire blvd suite 216 houston texas 77072 the new office will serve as a meeting place for members as well as partners interested in doing business with other countries our ongoing partnership with the chambers of commerce for pakistan vietnam china and myanmar promises to open great opportunities for caribbean based business to expand to these and other countries around the world.

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p a ge 2 amerijet international inc amerijet international inc is a full-service multi -modal transportation and logistics provider offering international scheduled all-cargo transport via land sea and air florida-based amerijet operates offices all over the world serving destinations throughout the americas mexico the caribbean europe asia and the middle east amerijet operates boeing 727-200 and boeing 767 200 aircraft from its primary hub at miami international airport with 210,000-square-foot export and 100 000square-foot imports air cargo handling facilities and a 50,000 square-foot ocean cargo facility a custom-built 10 300 square-foot 227,419 cu ft cooling facility was specially designed to maintain the cool chain integrity of perishables during the transportation process in addition to the state-of­the-art design features multiple pre-cooling systems and 24 hour surveillance the refrigerated storage space is subdivided into four climatecontrolled chambers offering not only refrigerated but frozen and chilled storage for additional information visit amerijet on the web at www.amerijet.com or https www.amerijet.com/promotions caribbean chamber newsletter readers will received a 10 discount on your cargo shipping to destinations worldwide when booking online at https www.amerijet.com/quickquote.aspx the taxpayer that s someone who works for the federal government but doesn t have to take the civil service examination ~ronald reagan taxes filing filing a past due return may not be as difficult as you think taxpayers should file all tax returns that are due regardless of whether full payment can be made with the return gather return information and come see us you should bring any and all information related to income and deductions for the tax years for which a return is required to be filed taxpayers unable to pay all taxes due on the bill are encouraged to pay as much as possible by paying as much as possible now the amount of interest and penalties owed will be lessened based on the circumstances a taxpayer could qualify for an extension of time to pay an installment agreement a temporary delay or an offer in compromise taxpayers who need more time to pay can set up either a short-term payment extension or a monthly payment plan a short-term extension gives a taxpayer up to 120 days to pay no fee is charged but the late-payment penalty plus interest will apply there are several different ways to make a payment on your taxes payments can be made by credit card electronic funds transfer check money order cashier s check or cash taxes payment plans a monthly payment plan or installment agreement gives a taxpayer more time to pay however penalties and interest will continue to be charged on the unpaid portion of the debt throughout the duration of the installment agreement/payment plan in terms of how to pay your tax bill it is important to review all your options the interest rate on a loan or credit card may be lower than the combination of penalties and interest imposed by the internal revenue code you should pay as much as possible before entering into an installment agreement a user fee will also be charged if the installment agreement is approved a user fee will also be charged if the installment agreement is approved the fee normally $105 is reduced to $52 if taxpayers agree to make their monthly payments electronically through electronic funds withdrawal the fee is $43 for eligible low-andmoderate-income taxpayers article written by stephen yoe ­ cpa stephenyoe@yoecpa.com c a r ib beanch am b er of c om m erc e

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june 1 st 2012 p a ge 3 westjet airlines ­ canada to jamaica on april 30 2012 the norman manley international airport nmia in kingston jamaica welcomed its first westjet international flight from toronto canada dr wykeham mcneil minister of tourism and entertainment headed the welcome to jamaica ceremony the minister noted that the entrance of westjet into kingston represents another step towards re-branding and building the capital city as a prime tourist destination the canadian carrier which also flies from toronto to sangster international in montego bay will now have three weekly flights to kingston mondays fridays and saturdays making it a total of 10 weekly flights to both airports dr morias guy minister for transport works and housing who was also in attendance stated tha t this new route also signals the building of better connectivity between the two cities and an expansion of opportunities for jamaicans living in canada to return home in a convenient manner and time and to partner with us in building this great nation when people ask me why they should travel to jamaica i tell them `well the beaches of course and the tourism events but to me what s more important is the people mayor of kingston and st andrew councilor angela brownburke also welcomed westjet into kingston noting tha t the airline will not only bring nationals home for `jamaica 50 but also for the city of kingston s 140th anniversary events acting vice-president of guest services for westjet mark brown said as kingston becomes westjet s 72nd destination he looks forward to great successes and a long lasting relationship the airline s culture is a very perfect match for the warm and caring culture of the jamaican people indeed there are many countries with beautiful beaches and great tourist attractions haitian investment a delegation of young haitian businessmen recently traveled to washington dc to meet with oas assistant se cretary general albert ramdin the delegation included investors in the tourism manufacturing and transportation sectors ramdin and the young business leaders discussed the changes currently taking place in haiti and the impact of these changes on the business environment the haitian delegation also spoke of the need for more business partnerships in the region according to ramdin these are young intelligent and ambitious business men they will lead haiti into the future i m encouraged by their confidence and their drive to improve economic activity in their country they recognize the challenges in haiti but see the opportunities for growth equally but the people the smiles the warmth is what sets jamaica apart source caribbeannewsnow.com health watch high blood pressure hypertension hypertension also known as hi gh blood pressure is a serious disease it is usually caused by either genetics or an unhealthy lifestyle if diagnosed with hypertension it is very important to take the prescribed medication maintain a low salt/low fa t diet hypertension is a major factor or a silent killer for people of color frequently causing heart attacks and strokes to avoid this disease eat fresh vegetables lower the ingestion of large amounts of red meat if you must have some red meat trim the fat barbecuing baking or broiling is best when preparing meals fish is also a great substitute for meat watermelon potatoes spinach are great options as well drink at least 6 cups of water daily heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages can also raise blood pressure it harms the liver brain and heart alcoholic drinks contain calories which do not contribute to a healthy lifestyle or to weight loss article written by breena makeda-koby msn nurse practitioner tips check your blood pressure regularly maintain healthy weight exercise frequently

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p a ge 4 wills a will is a legal instrument that permits a person to make decisions on how his possessions will be mana ged and distributed after his death wills are commonplace and many people think that they should assign and distribute their asse ts using a will but there are disadvantage s of using a will namely a will is subject to costly probate proceedings the conte nts of a will are public record and a will is tax inefficient i.e you will lose out on tax dollars tip when you use a will to mana ge and distribute asse ts after choose who dra ws up your death will wisely you can make your own will using a diy kit available from the local stationers but the process is full of pitfalls and errors are easy to make lawyers make a lot more money sorting out badly drafted wills and dealing wi th claims against those wills than they make for drawing upwills www.banjokofrancislaw.co m trusts trusts are a great idea for those who have been diagnosed with debilitating conditions disabilities or those taking care of someone with such conditions a trust is created by a trustor who arranges for a person or corporate entity called a trustee to hold legal title to property for another person called a bene ficiary you can be the trustee of your own living trust keeping full control over all property held in trust for example a living trust is simply a trust you create while you are alive rather than one that is created a t your death a testame ntary trust this is a key difference between trusts and will because a will only takes effect a t the death of a n individual however living trust is only one type of trust and there are different kinds of trusts making it a versatile mechanism for mana ging and distributing assets there is a misperception that trusts ambiguities and it will always be clear who stands to benefit both while you are alive and after you are deceased you will maximize control of the assets when you use a trust unlike a will the trust remains private at all ambiguities and it will always be clear who stands to benefit both while you are alive and after you are deceased you will maximize control of the assets when you use a trust unlike a will the trust remains private at all times even after the death of the individual who created the trust you will not have to worry about the public gaining access to information that you only want to keep with trusted individuals alimi banjoko ab@banjokofrancislaw.com there are also tax advantages of using a trust i t is a tax e fficient me thod of mana ging or distributing assets are only to be used by wealthy or rich individuals but this is no t the case a trust should be used in most instance s especially in complex estate s to help you avoid relatively costly probate maintain privacy and reduce transfer taxes unlike a will a trust is not subject to costly probate proceedings that can tie up valuable estate dollars in paying court co sts and attorneys fees in essence trusts sidestep entirely the probate process as a result the use of a trust can potentially keep more money in the family and avoids an unnecessary waste of income and time it is also important to no te tha t the avoidance of probate makes a trust more certain than a will well drafted trusts will ensure that there are no for example the transfer of assets to a trust is taxed once and is taxed at the size of the asset being transferred similar to the elimination probate this tax efficiency makes trusts a method that preserves more money compared to a will in some instances taxation is avoided for at least one generation le gal article written by alimi banjoko barrister and attorney-at-law england and jamaica registered foreign legal consultant california 25 dominica drive the towers 10th floor kingston 5 jamaica c a r ib beanch am b er of c om m erc e

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june 1 st 2012 p a ge 5 caribbean investment forum cif talks and information sharing there were over 40 speakers out of which 30 were international the conference was opened by prime minister of trinidad and tobago kamla persad-bissessar one significant agreement tha t was solidified at the conference was a memorandum of understanding mou be tween petrotrin and panama-based melones oil terminal inc moti the deal now gives the sta te-owned company an avenue to explore bunkering opportunities in the panama canal another major announcement between the two countries was that there will be commercial flights between the two nations from trinidad based caribbean airlines panamanian president alberto martinelli promised that his country s civil aviation authority caa will allow the stateowned carrier a license to fly into panama he said it was reciprocity for copa airlines panama s national airline flying directly into trinidad and will help strengthen ties between the countries panama is a free and open place to do business panama is a hub of mobility panama president ricardo martinelli the two-day caribbean investment forum cif took place in port-of-spain trinidad on may 14th and 15th the event which was organized by the trinidad tobago government brought together more than 500 business people and ministers for high-level immigration the united states is home to over 4 million immigrants from the caribbean who accounted for 9 percent of the total foreign-born population more than 90 percent of these immigrants came from cuba the dominican republic jamaica haiti and trinidad and tobago cuban immigrants in particular have been among the top ten foreign-born groups in the united states each decade since 1970 while the number of caribbean immigrants in the united states continues to increase the population s rate of growth has slowed a bit more each decade since 1970 and the share of the foreign born that is from the caribbean has gradually declined since 1990 there are another 6 million self-identified members of the caribbean diaspora residing in the united states of which 41 0 percent were native born or us citizens at birth and 57.7 percent were born in the caribbean excluding individuals born in the caribbean to at least one us-born parent at least 30 percent of the caribbean born residents in the united states resided in the new york-northern new jersey-long island ny-nj-pa metropolitan area a significant share of caribbean immigrants also resided in the metropolitan areas of miami and fort lauderdale texas ­ great for business texas was recently named one of the best places to start and operate a small business acording to a new survey from the kauffman foundation and thumbtack.com the poll of more than 6,000 business owners and entrepreneurs revealed that low tax rates simple licensing regulations and publicized training programs were key to a healthy business environment forming an llc in texas is a great way to go because it provides the business with numerous tax benefits in a texas limited liability company operating costs and business expenses can be deducted from the gross revenues of the business texas limited liability companies also can deduct depreciation of the company assets as part of the balance sheet of the limited liability company several major companies that have flocked to texas in recent years say they were attracted by the business-friendly policies of gov rick perry as well as by a lot of other factors not under the governor s control.

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technology corner ­ websites in today s web environment simplicity is the key in past years a great deal of importance was placed on adding fancy features in order to retain constant visitors today the climate has changed as less than 15 of internet users are actually tech savvy in order for visitors to utilize a website the company or designer should consider the following does the look and feel actually portray the proper image is the navigation user friendly does the navigation lead visitors to where the owner wants them to go does the site load quickly do the applications work properly the look feel and overall appearance of the website is very important the designer should choose colors and fonts that make each of the sites pages easily readable therefore more accessible the site designer should have a great understanding of aesthetics and knowledge of color combinations great imagery will project the vision that the website owner wants visito rs to have of the o rga n iz a tio n functionality includes all of the interactive aspects of a web site such as animation and buttons information should be readily accessible from all pages of the site visitors should always be able to find what they are looking for in an instant lafayette hamilton technology specialist pryde consulting theprydenetwork@gmail.com www.prydeconsulting.net advocating the economic interests and development for caribbean communities in texas the caribbean chamber of commerce is the voice of the caribbean on businesses legislative governmental and community issues affecting the population in the state of texas the chamber represents the general interests of the business community keeping a complete roster of caribbean businesses within texas and providing services to local and international companies and individuals with an interest in doing business in from or through texas and the caribbean countries in addition to representing the interests of private enterprises the chamber is also offering local and international companies a host of information on the many businesses within the texas caribbean community international trade center 11110 bellaire blvd suite 216 houston texas 77072 ph 832 448-0518 text 832 429-8281 email info@caribbeanchamber.org newsletter produced by pryde consulting ­ 512.537.7933

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