Barbados—Caribbean—Robert Simmons, Global Services Manager and co-leader of Dentons Caribbean Cannabis sector group for Barbados and the OECS Islands will be representing the region at MJBizCon, a global cannabis industry event hosted annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. This year the highly anticipated and attended expo will run from October 19 to 22, 2021.

Robert has been leading the entry of global players into the emerging medicinal cannabis markets in the Caribbean. His experience in the field has allowed him to work with regulatory bodies such as the Barbados Medicinal Cannabis Licensing Authority (BMCLA) and the Medicinal Cannabis Authority (MCA) in St Vincent and the Grenadines on their respective legal frameworks. He has also advised important clients in the industry such as Canopy Growth and Red Light Holland, in addition to key start-ups CannaSVG Ltd. and SVG Cannabis Limited. Recently, he provided advice to a Cannabis parent company making a major acquisition in the evolving non-cannabis medicinal sector.

Robert’s participation is of great relevance as MJBizCon will have more than 1000 exhibitors, 80 speakers and 70 hours of sessions gathering the key players within the industry. Investors, start-ups, experts and thought leaders will converge in Las Vegas to connect, exchange ideas and forge strategic business partnerships. Dentons Caribbean will be on hand to provide an overview of our full service legal practice, immigration portfolio and fiduciary services offering.

According to Robert “The game plan at MJBizCon is to network with targeted attendees informing them of Dentons’ capabilities within the region and The Firm’s ability to assist them in meeting their expansion goals; especially as it pertains to connecting them to potential business opportunities and key stakeholders. It is key to look at the medicinal cannabis industries throughout the Caribbean as a lucrative means of economic growth and as an attempt to diversify GDP portfolios for territories that have taken steps to permit these regimes. That said, where other global powerhouse jurisdictions are lobbied by the private sector to create legal frameworks to facilitate these industries, it is somewhat of the opposite within the region where governments are indeed the main drivers. With this considered, the importance of venturing out into markets to find prospective investors and vendors becomes an important component for both regulators and our Firm. We want to connect with these different actors to demonstrate how Dentons can assist them in finding solutions to their day-to-day issues, concerns and pursuits.”

For further information, please contact:

Debbie Reid
Business Development and Marketing Manager, Dentons
Barbados and the wider Caribbean
D +1 246 231 9846
debbie.reid@dentons.com

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