As you all know
Haitians are born Freedom fighter it’s in our blood, and soul
We fight for our freedom 1804
We fight against Oppression and colonialism from the France in 1828
We fight Against the US occupation in 1930
We fight against dictator put in place by US in 1940
We fight discrimination and bad labels in 1979
We fight nonstop Embargos from Europe and US 1982
We fight against Natural disaster 2010
And always come back stronger than ever before
Now our next Fight will be to rebuilt Haiti as our little paradise so that the 4millions of us diasporas, can go back one day to enjoy the fruit of our fight and our story of struggle
This thread is about The Next Chapter of the Haitians History
Haiti is projected to have the highest GDP growth in the Caribbean in 2012 and it's just the Beginning
In the Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2011, the regional organization of the United Nations states that although growth was already slower by the first half of 2011 when compared to 2010, most of the region showed a positive performance thanks to a favourable external situation. However, volatility and uncertainty complicated the global environment during the second half of the year, which caused a greater slowdown of economies compared to 2010, when the region grew by 5.9%.
According to the publication, the projected growth for 2011 means a rise in per capita output by 3.2%, and like in previous years, the results are uneven among the subregions, given that the South American countries grew by 4.6%, the economies of Central America by 4.1% and the Caribbean nations by only 0.7%.
The countries with the greatest growth this year will be Panama (10.5%), Argentina (9.0%), Ecuador (8.0%), Peru (7.0%) and Chile (6.3%), while El Salvador will only grow by 1.4%, Cuba by 2.5% and Brazil by 2.9%.
In this context, rapid job creation was observed and the regional open unemployment rate dropped from 7.3% to 6.8%.
In addition to the effect of an increasingly complex external situation, the lower economic growth in 2011 is due to measures applied particularly in Brazil to reduce domestic demand and prevent overheating as a result of its substantial growth in 2010. However, many countries grew more in 2011 than in 2010, as a result of a number of factors such as the recovery from natural disasters in the case of Chile and Haiti, the high prices of hydrocarbons, which favoured countries such as Venezuela and Ecuador, and the effect of the recovery of the United States of America on exports and remittances from some countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
The macroeconomic policy challenges which the countries had to face this year included the rise in regional inflation, which rose from 6.6% in 2010 to almost 7% in 2011, the appreciation of various currencies - in particular during the first half of the year-, the recovery of fiscal space, maintaining growth and particularly, starting from the second half of the year, the threat of a slowdown due to the external context.
According to the document, economic growth in the region is not immune to the prevailing situation of global uncertainty. "There is a great possibility of a deep crisis in the Eurozone, which would significantly affect the global economy overall and would impact our region primarily through the real channel (exports, prices, foreign investment, remittances and tourism) and the financial channel (greater volatility, possible capital outflows and difficulties in accessing credit)," stated Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, while presenting the report.
ECLAC projects that growth over the next year in Latin America and the Caribbean will be led by Haiti (8.0%), followed by Panama (6.5%), Peru (5.0%), Ecuador (5.0%) and Argentina (4.8%).
Furthermore, labour markets will continue to grow, albeit at slower rates than in previous years, which will place unemployment within the range of 6.6% and 6.8%. However, the current account deficit would increase again from 1.4% to 1.8% of GDP.
The publication stresses that future evolution of growth in Latin America and Caribbean will be influenced by the extent and scope of deterioration which is observed in the world economy. The drop in the level of activity in developed countries would result from a fall in the demand for goods which would negatively impact regional exports and the prices of principal export products, which is already being observed.
ECLAC stresses that the region has a number of strengths which would enable it to better face the downturn of the world economy, including a high level of reserves, which would enable the region to finance a deficit in the current account, improvements in the public accounts and -except in a number of countries in the Caribbean- low levels of public debt, which would generate spaces for countercyclical fiscal policies, and prospects of falling inflation, which would open space for an expansionary monetary policy.
However, in many countries there are fewer arenas for anti-crisis policies than before the crisis 2008-2009, therefore, the measures available are less powerful than on that occasion. In face of a possible deteriorating global economic situation there would be less capacity to coordinate action among the main economies.
Lastly, the report states that some of the principal challenges for Latin American and the Caribbean economic policy are to prepare for an eventual deterioration of the international situation, taking into account the possibility of sudden changes in the external situation and the delay in the impact of macroeconomic policies, to design a countercyclical fiscal policy package and ensure that it is financed for easy implementation, depending on the circumstances, to protect jobs and the most vulnerable social sectors and to strengthen intraregional integration.
CEPAL - Latin America and the Caribbean Will Grow by 3.7% in 2012 Amid Global Uncertainty and Volatility
Resumption of activities of Moulins d'Haiti (LMH)
Yesterday took place the official resumption of the activities of Moulins d'Haiti (LMH) located in Laffiteau, on this occasion the President of the Republic, Michel Martelly, government officials, of business community were present. The activities of Moulins d'Haiti had been abruptly halted following the destruction of its facilities on January 12, 2010.
Carl Braun, the President of the Board of Directors, declared hat the new facilities of the mill makes it the largest milling of the Caribbean "...thanks to the good agreement between the Haitian government and the private shareholders we were therefore able to rebuild this great industrial plant that we are inaugurating today, with two flour mills with a total capacity of 1,200 tonnes per day and a corn mill of 120 tonnes per day, the largest mill of the Caribbean rises from the ashes..." adding that the works to reopen the Moulins d'Haiti are the result of an investment of 55 million U.S. dollars.
The Minister of Agriculture Natural Resources and Rural Development, the agronomist Docteur Hebert declared "... after twelve years of effort, work and investment continues the production has more than doubled, currently the Moulins d'Haiti unless I am mistaken are the largest mills in the Caribbean, we understand and we share the legitimate pride that drives that company which now employs over 400 people..."
The President Martelly, for his part has focused on the public-private partnership "...the Moulins d'Haiti have in their assets additional reasons to hold my attention, firstly the constitution of its capital projects an inspiring model, private-public sector partnership, marriage of the national capital with foreign capital and I want to highlight the spirit of this dual partnership, which may help to generate capital for the case of our resources.
Secondly I noticed that the Moulins d'Haiti doesn't have monopoly and operates in an open market subject to competition laws, this situation remarkable experienced by this company proves eloquently that an intelligent initiative, conditioned by the demands of the market does not need regalian advantages to be profitable..."
The rehabilitation of the Landmark Downtown Jacmel
South Florida man to transform Jacmel into Haiti's premier tourist destination
A South Floridian has assembled celebrities, activists and fellow entrepreneurs to redevelop Haiti as a hip tourist destination.
South Beach nightclub promoter and entrepreneur Michael Capponi is standing in the soon-to-be inaugurated lobby of his latest luxury development.
Men are hammering away to restore an historic old building to its former glory. Capponi is holding forth about the amazing vibe the place has, comparing the semi-derelict building to Ernest Hemingway’s famous old Key West residence, which is a popular tourist museum.
“I see the road paved and a bar over there,” he says, pointing to some thatched huts under palms swaying in the salty breeze. The city’s only beach hotel, La Jacmelienne, sits empty.
Capponi and his partners have already begun work on restoring a 19th century former coffee sorting house on the Jacmel seafront and making it into a 44-room, boutique hotel. The project includes a spa, adjacent shops, including a French patisserie, and a tourism information center to promote local attractions including hiking tours to local waterfalls, horseback riding, boat trips to picnic on out-of-the-way beaches, scuba diving and water sports.
A second-floor infinity-edged pool, above the old coffee sorting pits, will offer a spectacular view over the bay. The hotel will also feature a Venus Williams tennis academy with its use split between hotel guests and an after-school program for the local kids.
The hotel is scheduled to open in November as the first phase of the project. “Donna [Karan] loves it. She was walking through here the other day saying, ‘I’m picking the colors right now, and the furniture,’ ” Capponi says.
Karan is also working with local artisans to develop lines of handicrafts to sell to tourists, as well as exporting to her high-end outlets in the U.S.
Capponi persuaded Haitian hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean to fund a hospitality school to train local Haitians for the coming tourism boom. Meanwhile, Belle plans to expand the Cine Institute into a full-fledged university for the arts.
The restoration of Jacmel could provide a new sustainable development model for Haiti, Capponi believes.
While he supports the multi-billion dollar efforts of foreign governments and aid agencies to reconstruct Haiti, “it became apparent to me that you can’t keep giving people stuff for free,” Capponi says. “We need to make a gradual shift from charity to empowerment. We need to empower the people of Haiti.”
To learn more about Jacmel go to Jacmel, Haiti. Also visit poder360.com for a picture gallery and film about the project
Yesterday Wednesday was presented at the Hotel Karibe the plans of a future Port-au-Prince, ordered by the mayor of the capital, result of the work of 40 Haitian experts, engineers, architects, planners of the Centre Haïtien de Recherche en Aménagement et en Développement (CHRAD), for 14 months.
They proposed a "futuristic" Port-au-Prince, a modern city fully renovated, with its trams and a completely redeveloped waterfront, in a tourist and leisure arean it is also provided a ministerial quarter on the Street Champs de Mars, a financial district and a village of artisans, for the "modest" amount of $3.3 billion, the onstruction is planned over a period of 5 years.
Muscadin Jean Yves Jason, the Mayor of Port-au-Prince, present at the presentation said, "This dream of a new Port-au-Prince is possible !", the Mayor has also called for a sustainable city, a city that will grow without choking, a healthy living environment and a pleasant living environment for all, stating that "the plan we have presented is a version that may be the final, but we will complete it with the reflection that will be made, and this plan will be sanctioned by a communal decree which says that it is the new plan of Port-au-Prince". Mr. Jason stated that the money for the 13 ministries is already available
"I think that it is an opportunity for us to finally have a modern citywhich is adapted to the requirements that there is now" says Paul Antoine Bien-Aimé Minister of the Interior and Territorial Collectivity (MITC) adding that the work that was presented was "inspiring" and that it will "encourage people to seek how we can achieve something like this." Mr. Bian-Aimé believes however that "the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince is primarily a responsibility of the Executive" adding that "in all major Capital Cities it's always a cooperation between the central government and the town hall that allows to modernize a capital."
Mr. Fritz Jean-Louis, who represented the President said that "the Presidency will play flawless the role of intermediary with the Government to come to ensure that all measures be taken to make this project a reality and in order that this new downtown can be inaugurated under the administration Martelly."
This Monday, November 28, 2011, the Government of Haiti, together with the U.S. government, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and Korean apparel manufacturer Sae-A Co. Ltd., officially laid the foundation stone for the Caracol Industrial Park. Haitian President Michel Martelly, along with former U.S. President Bill Clinton, presided at the ceremony for the 246-hectare park, one of the largest and most modern in the Caribbean. Local leaders and businesspeople, plus more than 500 members from communities in northern and northeastern Haiti, attended the event. The Caracol Industrial Park will create thousands of new jobs for Haitians and help launch Haiti back on a path of economic growth.
In his keynote speech, President Martelly underscored his administration’s commitment to continue to seek investment to create jobs in Haiti. "Haiti is open for business," he said.
"The Caracol Industrial Park shows the positive impact foreign investment can have in building Haiti back better," said President Clinton. "It will bring tens of thousands of jobs to Haitians, and I am proud to be here for the groundbreaking of this important project."
Sae-A Co. Ltd. is investing $78 million to develop operations in the park and has committed to hiring at least 20,000 Haitians to work there. This is the largest single investment in modern Haitian history and Sae-A Chairman Kim spoke of the long-term positive impact of this investment because it would show to the world that "The Haitian people are hard working, highly competitive, and ready to build a brighter future for their families."
The IDB is providing $55 million for the initial phase of Caracol’s construction. It is also financing programs to foster the creation of local small and medium-size enterprises to supply goods and services to the industrial park's tenants and workers. "Caracol can have a phenomenal multiplying effect in this region," said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. "Besides the thousands of factory jobs that will be created by large manufacturers, we will see many local entrepreneurs starting up small businesses, expanding the industrial park’s economic impact beyond its gates."
The U.S. government has committed more than $124 million in funding to build at least 25 megawatts of electrical power generation, improve regional health facilities, construct up to 5,000 housing units near the towns of Ouanaminthe, Fort Liberte, Terriere Rouge, Trou Du Nord, Caracol, and Quartier Morin in Northern Haiti in partnership with the IDB and Food for the Poor, and modernize regional port facilities.
The U.S. Agency for International Development is carrying out the projects. U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth H. Merten hailed the Caracol Industrial Park and Sae-A’s investment in Haiti as a great victory and said, "Investment is the real key to making the Haitian people more prosperous, which in turn will make the Haitian nation more independent and sovereign."
The partnership between Sae-A, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Haitian and American governments, and the Clinton Foundation will have a positive and lasting impact on the Haitian recovery effort. The Park symbolizes a major step forward in our collective efforts to revitalize and expand the Haitian apparel and light manufacturing sectors.
After the ceremony, the officials were able to see the construction site, currently Haiti’s largest. Operations at the park are expected to begin in March 2012.
Learn more about the project :
The success of the Caracol Park rests on a number of pillars that are progressing alongside to ensure the Park attains true global competitiveness and is properly integrated into the sustainable growth of the communities of Northern Haiti. The total investment exceeds USD$224 millions
A 250ha full-service industrial park: The Park offers factory shells at competitive rental rates built to international standards. Phase 1 is comprised of 350,000m2 of roofed factory floor space, of which 120,000m2 currently remain available for rent. The Park will be managed by a private management company, and owned by the Haitian Government. A dedicated onsite power plant with sufficient backup capacity will ensure consistent power supply at competitive tariffs. The Park also offers appropriate water to support the needs of industrial laundries and fabric dye houses and state of the art waste water treatment plants built to the highest environmental standards. Contracts for the park construction and the power plant have been awarded in September after open, competitive international bidding."
New housing: To accommodate potential migration to the area and provide adequate and affordable housing, 5,000 new homes will be built in surrounding communities in convenient commuting distance of the Park, with access to services such as water and electricity.
Electrification: The Park's power plant will provide electricity to nearby towns and villages that are currently not connected to the electric grid, significantly improving the quality of life of local residents and the competitiveness of small and medium sized businesses in the region.
Direct access to global markets: The projects contains significant investments in modernized port facilities in the North that meet the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS) and offer short transit times of 3-4 days to the U.S. with frequent vessels.
Colombia will partner with the Haitian coffee growers
Colombia, in partnership with the IDB and the National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC), announced yesterday, on the sidelines of the forum "Invest in Haiti", its support to a cooperation effort in Haiti, to strengthen the culture of Haitian coffee as an instrument of poverty reduction.
Led by the Multilateral Investment Fund, this program will benefit to over 10,000 small farmers over a period of 3 years. Colombia will contribute for an amount of USD$120.000 aimed at mobilizing the technical capabilities of the FNC. The National Federation of Coffee Growers, which represents more than 500,000 peasant families in Colombia, intends make benefit of Haitian coffee growers of best practices in coffee production, reforestation and food security.
uis Alberto Moreno, IDB President praised the Haitian coffee, and expressed confidence about the opportunities that will bring this cooperation agreement. For his part, former President Clinton, praised the choice of the FNC and the IDB to invest in coffee production in Haiti, that he considers competitive in the international market.
The multinational company Nestlé, the largest food company in the world, in partnership with the IDB and the MIF will provide for free new seeds and seedlings to coffee growers in Haiti.
This cooperation is the second initiative of the Government of Colombia, which since 2010 has provided more than $4 million for the reconstruction of Haiti.
LS Cable Will Open an industrial base to manufacture of fiber optic cables in Haiti
Laurent Lamothe, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr. John Son, President of the company LS Cable and Systems, conducted formally, this Tuesday, November 29, 2011, to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow to the responsibles of this company of the industrial group South Korean LG, of exploring shortly, the posibilities of investment to promote economic development in the country.
The agreement was signed after the official opening of the second Investment Forum in Haiti, is the result of steps taken by the Minister Lamothe during his visit to South Korea in search of opportunities for the country .
The Chancellor announced, in addition, the arrival soon of several other foreign investors in Haiti, where potentialities are evident in several sectors.
John Son, who has expressed his strong desire to come invest in Haiti in the field of Technology, affirms his commitment to respect this agreement that will facilitate the creation of new jobs in the country.
"LS Cable and Systems", is a company that works primarily in the manufacture of fiber optic cables.
HCC Corporation Will open an Hotel of 250 room in Port AU PRINCE
Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, the Minister of Tourism and the American firm "Haiti Hotel Corporation" (HHC), signed at the forum "Invest in Haiti" a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the construction of the "hôtel des Artistes", close to the Toussaint Louverture International Airport.
This hotel, which involves five partners of Haiti, including Win group, initially announced for $38 million is now confirmed for 47 million. With a capacity of 250 rooms, on a property of 21 acres, this hotel will also include conference rooms for business travelers. The hotel will provide services to many Haitians who want to return to the country, who will be able to transit in the night before continuing their journey to their home town. 200 permanent jobs will be created of which 95% of Haitian origin.
The Minister of Tourism welcomed the streamlining of procedures of construction, which allowed the rapid signing of this agreement. An agreement that sends a strong and positive signal to investors.
Pierre Chauvet of the Tourism Association of Haiti (ATH) was pleased that after so many years of representation, we have come to understand that "tourism can be a pillar of the development of Haiti. "
