Curacao - Business opportunities 2

I already discussed about some Business opportunities in Curacao in my previous post. In this post I would like to add some more opportunities which are present and may can be a smart investment.

Water
Curacao is famous for its clear and clean drinking water. Due to the non-polluted ocean around the island, people in Curacao enjoys drinking good quality water.
Unfortunately since shortly the water plant "Aqualectra", the company which helps make the water suitable for drinking, started to add fluoride to the drinking water and is in the last few years in financial problems.   Aqualectra has a monopoly position in water and electricity. Due to its debt and its monopoly power, the company is increasing its prices which is making the citizens of Curacao not satisfied with the company.  Please check the KWh on your AQUALECTRA Pagatinu bill when you purchase electricity and you will see what I mean!!
I see the problems of Aqualectra as an opportunity for a foreign water plant to establish a competitor company in Curacao. 
Furthermore, to make the investment more attractive, except providing clean water to Curacao society, you can also consider to start exporting bottled drinking water to neighbor countries like Venezuela  or even to China, India where the drinking water has a bad quality.


Cleaning company
Cleaning roads/ streets, government places e.g. hospitals, parks, schools is a normal thing to do. In Curacao I don't think it's normal because nobody is doing it. Or they do it once a while when they want to. If you want your money to keep rolling, setting up a cleaning company with responsible employees and signing a cleaning agreement/contract with the government will be a great success in Curacao.
If you look at the hospital in Curacao, it's not so clean. Many sewers are full with weed, bottles/plastic bags/cups/paper are everywhere on the floor by the roads, don't even mention the road to Playa Canoa (it's full with household dirt), and so on.     

Government of Curacao really needs a professional cleaning company which can keep Curacao 24 hours clean !!!!!!!!!!! 

Sewer full with weed. What will happen if there is a lot of rain?

sewer full with weed

Heineken & Polar bottles

Dewars white label box at Waaigat

Hospital
Since 10 years ago the Curacao government is facing difficulties with building a new hospital. I have to make clear they have the money for this project but unfortunately they are not able to make up their mind about the location of the hospital. I would like to attract the attention of companies which have experiences in building hospitals. Experiences in giving advise about location, environment, building structure, infrastructure around the new hospital, etc. 


Supermarket
The daily life in Curacao is pretty expensive. If you walk in the mini markets and supermarkets you will notice that the prices are pretty high compared to the salaries given in Curacao. If you ask people how come the prices are so high, you will always get the answer: "Everything is imported".
In my eyes this is just a stupid excuse to make a lot of money. Living in Asia I experienced how cheap products can be. So if the supermarkets in Curacao can change their product brands to another unfamiliar brand which has the same quality as the current products but has a much lower price, the product prices can be offered to consumers by much lower prices. The supermarkets can of course keep some of their current products but introduce cheaper versions for people with less financial income.    
IMPORTANT:   Food is important in the daily life of people in Curacao. Curacao people like to eat a lot. Due to the high retail prices, people do not care anymore about the brands but just want lower prices.
If I had enough money I would definitely open a supermarket with much lower prices because I know I can gain market share and beat most of the biggest supermarkets.     



Taxi
If you have experience with taxi company or public transportation, Curacao will be good place for you to start a taxi company. Curacao is a small island but unfortunately the public transportation is not convenient. You can stand for hours to wait for a bus and if you want to take a taxi it will cost you a fortune. Taxis are expensive because the Curacao government is not really paying attention on their tarrifs so the taxi companies charge very ridiculous high fares. Aruba on the other hand has a great and customer friendly taxi fare regulation. 
With a new established taxi company (responsible drivers and reasonable fares) you will get as customers Curacao citizens and also tourists (pick up from hotels, airport, cruise ships, city center, beaches, restaurants, etc). Besides being just a taxi, you can also offer tour services.


Links
Aqualectra:
1.      http://aqbottling.com/023_e.html
2.        http://www.curacaochronicle.com/local/230-millon-guilders-needed-to-get-aqualectra-out-of-trouble/
3.     http://www.avsnewsonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3662:aqualectra-is-serious-financial-problems&catid=48:curacao-news&Itemid=63
4.      http://www.sxmislandtime.com/front-page-headliners/24890-major-financing-for-aqualectra-plans-pulls-out.html
5.     http://www.amigoe.com/english/163347-project-dokweg-possibly-on-hold
6.     http://www.curacaochronicle.com/politics/vbc-water-and-electricity-supply-in-danger/
7.     http://www.curacaochronicle.com/local/old-generator-is-the-cause-for-power-failure/

Supermarkets:
1.    http://www.curacaochronicle.com/main/major-price-differences-at-supermarkets/
2.    http://www.stagescuracao.nl/praktische_informatie/algemeen/boodschappen
3.    http://www.versgeperst.com/nieuws/65438/supermarkten-negeren-maximumprijzen.html
4.    http://www.investcuracao.com/01d05.html
5.    http://www.npostna.com/personal/downloads/Import%20Taxes.pdf
6.    http://www.sabanews.nl/tax-obstacles-freight-transit-curacao-dutch-caribbean-are-removed/

Taxi:
1.    http://travel.usnews.com/Curacao/Getting_Around/
2.    http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1351822