Caribbean News Now!

By Caribbean News Now contributor

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Secretary-general of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Irwin LaRocque, and the foreign minister of Haiti, Laurent Lamothe, on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) identifying of a number of areas in which CARICOM can assist its member state.

The signing of the MOU came at the end of the two-day mission to Haiti by the Bureau of Heads of Government of CARICOM led by chairman Desi Bouterse, president of Suriname. Dr Denzil Douglas, prime minister of St Kitts and Nevis; Phillip Pierre, deputy prime minister of Saint Lucia, representing his prime minister, Dr Kenny Anthony; and LaRocque were the other members of the Bureau on the mission. The special representative of the heads of government on Haiti, PJ Patterson, was also a member of the delegation.

The delegation met with Michel Martelly, president of Haiti, and there was agreement that the support of CARICOM was of vital importance for Haiti, and for the Community itself. Among the areas agreed upon are: capacity building in government agencies for investment; technical assistance in education, agriculture, public health, transportation, tourism among others and youth exchange initiatives.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Bouterse said the visit had been most rewarding as the Bureau had heard from the president, the cabinet, the private sector, and parliament how they would wish CARICOM to work with them in the rebuilding and further development of the country.

He urged the Haitian business community to take better advantage of the agreement that allows some products to enter the rest of CARICOM duty free for a three year period, which began last year. The CARICOM chairman also assured the private sector that the Bureau would encourage those member states that had not yet done so to implement the decision of the heads of government to allow entry for those business persons with visas from the United States, Canada and the Schengen Area entry into their state.

The chairman also announced that “as part of our ongoing assistance to Haiti, a consignment of three containers of anti-cholera drugs provided by the Community was delivered two days ago to the Ministry of Health, in the fight against the epidemic.”

In meeting with the Bureau of Heads of Government during CARICOM's two-day mission to Haiti, Haiti's Minister of the Interior, Thierry Mayard-Paul stressed that Haiti is charting a new course for sustainable economic development.

"We are focusing our efforts on investment and job creation, particularly in Haiti's heartland," he said, articulating the Martelly administration's new vision for Haiti. "We understand that the key to driving sustainable development in Haiti is to map it throughout our entire nation and then drive it through local initiatives and decentralized cooperation."

Under discussion is the adoption of French as an official and working language for the Community.

After thanking CARICOM members for their ongoing support of Haiti since the 2010 earthquake, Mayard-Paul emphasized that his nation is progressing in its recovery efforts, saying, "President Martelly's new vision for Haiti is to build a socially just, economically free, and politically independent nation that does not end with reconstruction but rather, begins with renovation. This is aligned with the administration's vision for decentralization and job creation through investment."

Stressing the fact that Haiti offers an energetic and willing workforce, Mayard-Paul said, "It is clear that what Haitians want and need is jobs that will restore their dignity. We are therefore looking forward to working in close collaboration with our CARICOM neighbors to promote opportunities that reflect our communities' most pressing priorities – jobs. We also seek to share those best practices that are yielding results for other member nations."

The minister pointed to collaboration in civil protection activities, such as disaster preparedness and relief.

"All of our nations are in geographic locations that make us vulnerable to the variances of nature," he said. "Therefore, we welcome best-practice sharing focused on institutional capacity building for preparedness and response, and equipment that will allow us to react more quickly and effectively."

In encouraging investments from CARICOM nations, the minister highlighted the myriad of investment opportunities waiting in Haiti's heartland, especially in social infrastructure initiatives that enable communities to generate jobs and sustainable development.

"With so many great opportunities in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure development and other sectors, we would be looking to CARICOM to help steer investments and contributions in these areas," he said. "Additionally, as part of CSME [Single Market Economy of the Caribbean], we should be looking at standards that will facilitate the export of Haitian products to our Caribbean neighbours."

The Haitian minister asked for closer collaboration on cultural exchange activities and cited the possibility of establishing a Caribbean Youth Parliament or Organization that seeks to build lasting relationships among the future leaders of the Caribbean.

"Caribbean universities could also embark on region-wide research related to the environment, the economy and social integration. The idea is that future leaders have a common understanding and culture that will facilitate a common market," he said.

Overall, the Ministry of the Interior identified 40 key projects pertaining to meeting the needs of Haiti's population outside the capital of Port-au-Prince, telling CARICOM representatives, "We would welcome the opportunity to present and discuss them with you. Our brother nations of CARICOM have been of great support to us since the earthquake and we are grateful."

President Martelly also announced the update of a protocol signed in the past, including an agriculture agreement aimed at making Haiti an exporter of agricultural products.

Martelly has made clear his interest in Haitians enjoying the same privileges as other CARICOM member states.

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Martino Philippe:

I am Martino Philippe from Haiti,i would like to know some information concerning the meeting organizing by the Caricom member on Feb.13-14, there was a contract signed with the caricom member haitian who get us visa or shengen visa, canada visa can travel in the caricom countries without visa please can you tell me right now which caricom member who accept that haitian can travel with US visa , i look forward to hear from you.
yours sincerely,
Martino Philippe