At the annual meeting of the powerful of the policy and the economy, "the World Economic Forum (WEF)" in Davos, Switzerland, which closed its doors this Sunday, the Dominican President, Leonel Fernández who participated yesterday, Saturday to the roundtable "Develop the private investment in Haiti", has proposed a broad plan to build homes to house more than a million people still living in refugee camps. He emphasized on the need for the international private sector to contribute to achieve sustainable development in Haiti, citing among other things, the research of investment for the implementation of tourism projects in areas concerned by such activity.

President Fernández said that to reach its full development, "Haiti must undertake a major project of industrialization generator of jobs." Stressing the need to implement education programs for the "professional training of human resources in order to incorporate them into the productive system". Another important area, according to him, is to invest in infrastructure such as roads, bridges, aqueducts, schools, hospitals and other services.

To succeed to these goals, we must develop a strategic development plan which addresses each of the mentioned areas to develop in the short, medium and long term," said President Fernández.

Representatives from on the World Bank (WB), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Center for International Development at Harvard University, NGOs and private companies such as Coca Cola, have congratulated the work and continued support of President Fernández in favor of the progress and the reconstruction of Haiti and highlighted the dedication of Dominican President to call on every occasion, the International Community for a new beginning for Haiti.

Learn more about the roundtable :

This roundtable was chaired by Ricardo Hausmann, Director of the Centre for the Development of Harvard University, Paul Collier, Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford, Wendy Clark, vice president of Coca Cola Company in the U.S. and Lynn Taliento, president of McKinsey & Company.

Participating in exchanges (among others) : Robert Greenhill, Director in charge of the office of the World Economic Forum, Robert Zoellick, World Bank President, Luis Alberto Moreno, IDB President, Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Helen Clark, Program Manager of Nations United Nations Development Programme in New York, and Mark Feierstein, Administrative Assistant in USAID, various executives and directors of NGOs, international foundations and private companies. The former President George Bush was present, accompanied by the First Lady Margarita Cedeno Fernández and the Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso.

PI/ HaitiLibre