Haiti faces 30-year climb to middle-income status, official says
Published on Sunday May 27, 2012
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The Canadian Press
OTTAWA—It will take Haiti the better part of three decades to become a middle-income country on par with its Caribbean island neighbour, the Dominican Republic, says the top U.S. official on the file.
But Thomas Adams, the State Department’s special co-ordinator for Haiti, said that “realistic” estimate should not be seen as daunting to countries like Canada that are heavily invested in helping the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, still struggling after its devastating 2010 earthquake.
Nor should it deter investors, who are crucial to Haiti’s long-term recovery, Adams added, as long as the country builds credible democratic institutions.
“There is no reason why Haiti can’t become a middle-income country. But because they’re starting so low, it’s going be to be 25-30 years even if they have good economic growth,” Adams said after two days of meetings in Ottawa with various government officials.
“It’s not a quick fix. These problems in Haiti — their educational system, their health system, cholera, the infrastructure — these aren’t quick fixes,” he added.
“It’s good to be realistic. That’s not to say we’re not making progress each year … But overall, you’re not going to see a Haiti the way you’d like it for a while.”
Forty years ago, Haiti was slightly ahead of the Dominican Republic economically, said Adams, with 20 large American corporations setting up their Caribbean headquarters there. The two countries share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Adams sees economic growth for Haiti in textiles, agriculture and tourism.
“Haiti needs private investment. All the donor money, as generous as it is — and I think Canada and a lot of countries have been very generous — isn’t enough to fix Haiti.”
The U.S. and Canada, said Adams, remain in lock-step when it comes to helping Haiti recover from the devastating January 2010 earthquake that left 300,000 dead and displaced 1.5 million. Canada has pledged more than $1 billion to Haiti, making it the second largest aid recipient after Afghanistan.
That co-operation extends to co-ordinated messaging of Haiti’s political leaders, to break the political paralysis of the last year - a crisis that has raised serious questions about the country’s ability to stave off corruption and govern itself effectively.
That crisis appeared to ease earlier this month when President Michel Martelly swore in a new prime minister, Laurent Lamothe, whose predecessor resigned in February after barely four months on the job.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1201436--haiti-faces-30-year-climb-to-middle-income-status-official-says
