Tuesday, during the first day of the second edition of the Forum on Investment in Haiti "Invest in Haiti," which brings together nearly 1,000 participants and investors from 29 countries, Luis Alberto Moreno, President of the Inter Development Bank (IDB) in his address, said that Haiti was open for business and encouraged investment in the sectors of apparel, tourism, agribusiness and of infrastructures.

"...let me tell you that Haiti is open for business, alive and strong. Today we welcome the citizens of more than 29 countries to help Haiti, to achieve this goal for change, the international community is fully committed to helping the country for its economic, social and environmental problems. We all know that this will be long, because Haiti confront internal challenges that must be resolved, but one thing that must be done is to give an impulse to economic growth. Haiti needs to rebuild its infrastructure and create the right incentives to encourage private sector investment and work with its partners.

This forum will enhance business opportunities in four sectors : apparel, tourism, agribusiness and of infrastructures, nd this morning we will discuss how to innovate to create more jobs in these sectors . As you know, Haiti is only two hours flight of the largest consumer market which are the United States, therefore, Haiti is well positioned and provides not only a lot of t-shirts and tank tops to the U.S. market, but last year it was the largest exporter of clothing. This year exports increased by 50%.

We have publicly committed to support the recovery over the next decade, in doing so, the IDB has become the main source of multilateral financing, this has been possible because our shareholders have clearly understood the call to action. I would like to celebrate here, the fact that Latin American country which owns 50% stake in the bank, were the first to really push in that direction and were followed by the other shareholders.

Our priority is in line with the Haitian government, to formulate the future of Haiti, we will focus on institution building, support for economic growth in diverse areas of the country. The IDB is working in areas where we think we can make a difference: the private sector development, transportation, energy, water and sanitation, agriculture and education and cincerning the private sector development, in addition to the industrial park of Caracol, IDB helps Haiti to expand its access to credit and business development and the service to small and medium enterprises. We also help the government as part of reforms to improve the investment climate, for example, reducing the time of licensing and concessions, and also facilitate the entry into the market of small and medium enterprises . The ultimate goal of business development of the private sector is to create jobs to achieve sustained growth and poverty reduction also [...]"

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4368-haiti-economy-the-president-martelly-wants-to-create-500-000-jobs-in-36-months.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4368-haiti-economy-the-president-martelly-wants-to-create-500-000-jobs-in-36-months.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4362-haiti-tourism-marriott-international-will-open-a-hotel-of-173-rooms-in-port-au-prince.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-4360-haiti-economy-laying-of-the-foundation-stone-for-the-caracol-industrial-park.html

S/ HaitiLibre