Sunday, March 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Marleine Bastien, Candidate for Congress and me in Washington, DC
The world renowned Ms. Marleine Bastien is the only candidate from the heavily Haitian 17th Congressional District in Florida who is at the Organization of American States Haitian Diaspora Forum in Washington, DC. Her campaign website where you can learn more about her or donate to her campaign is www.votebastien.com. She hopes to be the first Haitian American in Congress.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Mathias Pierre and @thehaitian
Mr. Pierre is the owner of GAMA and a "Pioneers In Prosperity" Award winner for best business in Haiti.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
How Google Can Change Haiti Forever
The fiber optic cable that will connect Haiti to rest of the world at broadband speed is already in Port-au-Prince. Political shenanigans in Haiti are preventing it from operating. Google can make a social experiment out of dropping millions of terabytes into Haiti for the foreseeable future. Google should trade China for Haiti and demonstrate the power of free information in developing countries. Let Google disrupt underdevelopment like it disrupts every other market it enters.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Sweatshops Won't Save Haiti
The United Nations will host a Haiti donors' conference at the end of March.
This conference will be quite different from last year's event, of course, coming as it does on the heels of the worst earthquake to strike Haiti in two centuries. An agenda has already begun to take shape: It's already clear that a future Haiti must be populated with environmentally sustainable, earthquake-resistant buildings, for example, and it's also clear that the international community must do something to ease Haiti's massive debt burden.
Former President Bill Clinton, currently serving as the UN's envoy to Haiti, and economist Paul Collier have another idea that could prove disastrous. They think Haiti needs to leverage its "cheap labor."
In other words, they think Haiti will solve its problems by opening up more sweatshops.
Of course Clinton and Collier don't call them sweatshops. They talk about "garment factories" or "manufacturing centers" or simply "workshops," but they are sweatshops and nothing more.
For Haiti to join the ranks of developed nations, they argue, Haitians must first work as many hours as possible for paltry wages so that their economy can grow.
Congress seems to agree. It has passed several bills that provide Haitian garment-makers preferential access to American consumers. According to conventional knowledge, Haiti was on the road to economic success — as a result of these legislative reforms — before the earthquake. Now, the logic goes, Haitians must rebuild their collapsed "workshops" and produce as many cheap T-shirts as possible.
All this ignores the most important point: sweatshop labor's inherent inhumanity. Sweatshop labor proponents have never worked in the conditions they so enthusiastically endorse for others. When advocating such solutions, they often offer compelling numbers as proof of their effectiveness. But what about the human costs: the extra hours workers spend away from their families, the risk of injury that accompanies repetitive movements, and the loss of morale as some boss demands that you produce even more?
In Haiti, there are a few plausible alternatives to sweatshop labor. In the lead-up to last year's donors' conference, progressive Haitian civil society organizations suggested a development program that focuses on local production and agriculture. They argued, convincingly, that the benefits from sweatshop labor often end up somewhere else, since the clothes are constructed on-site; the material for the clothes are shipped in, and the clothes are shipped out upon completion.
A focus on locally produced goods, however, would have the opposite effect. Haitian entrepreneurs would produce according to Haitian needs, and every part of the manufacturing process--from the development of materials to the production of goods--would take place in Haiti and benefit Haitians.
In addition, building up the capacity of Haitian farmers is crucial in the coming months and years. Haiti has been dependent on food aid for many years now, and a national program that focused on sustainable agriculture would not only have the effect of providing a livelihood and locally produced food for countless Haitians, it would also allow Haiti to address the environmental degradation that has crippled its economy for generations.
The link between these two suggestions is infrastructure development. Better roads and better transportation generally mean a much more stable and efficient economy.
All three of these proposals would require funding from the international community and expertise from abroad as well. All three proposals, if enacted, would benefit Haitians enormously.
The upcoming donors' conference is an incredibly important forum. We have an opportunity to help Haitians rebuild in a manner that simultaneously respects their humanity and enables them to become more productive.
We have an opportunity to heed the voices of concerned and knowledgeable Haitians. Now isn't the time to subsidize foreign investors' sweatshops.
A better vision for Haiti.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
What's wrong with this picture?
Cap-Haitien Residents: Nobody Has Done Anything For Us Here
JIM WYSS
Published: YesterdayCAP-HAITIEN, HAITI -- Dabel-Eliana Laforet returned to the place of her birth, and Haiti's second-largest city, determined to remake her life in this port town that was virtually untouched by the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Instead, she listens to the news from Port-au-Prince and yearns to be back in the shattered capital she called home for 20 years.
Even as it lay in ruins, Port-au-Prince continues to starve the rest of the nation of attention and resources. In this northern city of about 180,000, residents say the central government has largely been absent and international aid barely trickles in. Despite Cap-Haitien's functioning harbor and rubble-free streets, residents say they are reliant on the capital's crumbled institutions to get anything done.
Unable to find work, Laforet said it frustrates her to hear about aid agencies doling out food and jobs in the capital.
``No one has done anything for us here,'' she said, standing outside a pink, one-room shack on the outskirts of town. ``Everything is happening in Port-au-Prince.''
Some call Haiti ``the Republic of Port-au-Prince'' because no other city seems to matter, said Jean-Robert Lafortune, the president of the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, a Miami-based organization that has been advocating for greater decentralization. ``There has been an unbalanced development of Haiti, and that has an impact in terms of commerce and industrialization in other parts of the country,'' he said.
If decentralization was an issue before the disaster, in some ways it has only been exacerbated as the world's relief agencies have focused their efforts in hard-hit Port-au-Prince.
Three weeks after the earthquake, Tim Traynor, the emergency coordinator of the CRUDEM Foundation hospital, on the outskirts of Cap-Haitien, toured a field clinic with about 400 patients -- almost all flown in from Port-au-Prince.
HOSPITAL IN NEED
While the hospital has been surviving on donations and volunteers, in the weeks immediately after the earthquake it had not received the full support of the United Nations or the International Red Cross, he said.
``We have not received a thing from the U.N. We are being completely ignored,'' Traynor said, as he surveyed a tent full of patients with shattered limbs and missing legs. When he asked the Red Cross and the U.N. about getting food or shelter for the hundreds of family members who have followed the patients to the hospital, he was told, ``We're busy in Port-au-Prince.'' ``Well, what about us?''
The World Food Program has been bringing in rice through the Cap-Haitien port, but much of it has been destined for the capital, local officials said.
Making matters worse, the region has been plagued recently by heavy rains that have been deadly in some cases. In fact, all schools in Cap-Haitien and neighboring cities to the north have been closed since Feb. 16 -- ever since four children were killed when the rains triggered a landslide that sent a boulder crashing into their classroom.
One of the problems hindering aid has been lack of communication, said Valente Perry, the team leader of a U.S. Army Civil Affairs group that recently toured Cap-Haitien.
``There has been a disconnect between [the United Nations], the government and the NGOs [nongovernmental organizations]here,'' Perry said. ``Much of that coordination is just starting to come on line.''
In the days after the earthquake, more than 400,000 people fled Port-au-Prince, according to the International Organization on Migration.
The government encouraged the exodus, packing people on buses and calling ``decentralization'' a national imperative. No one's sure how many ended up in Cap-Haitien, but Mayor Michel St. Croix estimates at least 50,000 have sought refuge here.
While evacuees have come, the aid they need has not followed, he said.
``We need housing, sanitation, security -- we need everything,'' said St. Croix, who worked for the Red Cross before becoming mayor in 2007.
Most importantly, the city needs to able to put them to work, he said. ``We didn't have enough jobs before the earthquake. And we certainly don't have enough jobs now.''
With the seat of government and the nation's principal harbor in Port-au-Prince, industry has traditionally clustered around the capital pulling the labor force with it. When the earthquake struck, about one-third of the nation, or more than 3 million people, were crowded into the capital.
Cap-Haitien has always had a complicated relationship with Port-au-Prince. After independence from France in 1804, Henri Christophe, a key leader in the revolution, declared himself emperor of the Kingdom of Northern Haiti, with Cap-Haitien as its capital. The ruins of that era -- the Sans-Souci Palace, once considered the Versailles of the Caribbean; and the hilltop Laferrire citadel -- still loom on the outskirts of the city and are among the nation's top tourist draws.
ISOLATED
In 2004, anti-government forces under the command of renegade police chief Guy Philippe took Cap-Haitien and launched a putsch that ultimately led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Although it sits less than 100 miles from the capital, Cap-Haitien is also isolated by poor roads that can make the journey an eight-hour odyssey. And yet it's still dependent on Port-au-Prince.
Getting a birth certificate, a driver's license or a passport requires a trip to the capital.
Even the fact that the city has its own port -- which never ceased to function even as the main harbor in Port-au-Prince was crippled -- means little, said Jimmy Marzouka, who owns the Super Mart grocery store in downtown Cap-Haitien.
Corruption at the installation makes it too costly to bring in merchandise, so he is forced to send trucks every week to the capital to pick up goods.
``When you try to bring goods in through the [Cap-Haitien] port, they can sit there for months and months and you lose money,'' he said, echoing a common gripe in the business community. ``All the distributors are in Port-au-Prince. Everything is in Port-au-Prince.''
There are efforts to shift the balance of power.
Georges Sassine, the president of the Manufacturers' Association of Haiti, said there are plans to build a garment-manufacturing plant near Cap-Haitien that could employ 10,000 to 20,000 people; there are also projects to expand the city's undersized airport and improve the roads that lead to tourist attractions. ``There is no reason not to continue with these plans,'' he said.
While decentralization may be good government policy, it's not always seen as a sound business decision, said Robert Krech, an operations officer at the International Finance Corporation who promotes foreign investment in Haiti.
Investors want to be close to the central government and other industries, he said.
``Like attracts like,'' he said. ``Most of the [foreign] investors we have been speaking to don't want to locate outside of Port-au-Prince even after the earthquake.''
That sentiment is not limited to investors. The lure of a bustling Port-au-Prince may continue to be too enticing for average Haitians to ignore.
Cradling her week-old grandson, Laforet said she planned to raise the boy in the capital as soon as she collects enough money for the trip.
``It's very pretty and quiet here,'' she said looking at the row of mountains in the background. ``But I miss the noise and the traffic. Port-au-Prince is home.''
This article shows us how there is a bias against countryside development as far high as the leadership of the IFC (International Finance Corp). I believe this is the wrong answer. It would be rather simple to dislodge the corruption at the port in Cap and develop Cap Haitian's port and export industry. In fact, it would be easier to do it in Cap then in Port au Prince where all the players are ensconced in their corrupt relationships on a grand scale.
Cap is virgin territory, has a great waterfront, is not yet completely overrun by slums though its well on its way, and there is a connecting road being built between the North and the Capital. Beyond that, Santiago, the 2nd largest city in the Dominican Republic is only 10 miles further from Cap then PAP. Peurto Plata, a port I have operated cargo ships out of, is as far from Cap as from Port-au-Prince.
The point is that there are many options for working out how to generate more economic activity away from Port-au-Prince. Business can and want to be in Cap. At minimum, the environment for them proceed should be created. We should start with ending corruption at Haitian ports.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Let's talk business. Why note #Haiti? Coconuts @wholefoods
These coconuts come from just across the border in the Dominican Republic. The are selling for $3 each at Whole Foods. Anyone want to venture to guess how painfully simple it would be to set up this operation in Haiti?
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Independence, fiscal responsibility, wide vision, no politics. A proven recipe for reconstruction.
Building big in Haiti
Yves Savain
Over more than two decades, Haiti’s economy has relied heavily on remittances —US$1.8 billion in 2008 according to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). As a result, before the earthquake two million literate young people already wandered the streets of Port-au-Prince, Cap, Gonaïves, Jacmel and Les Cayes looking for work. Transfers will continue to be allocated mainly to immediate consumption rather than long term investments; thus, what is needed now is a sustainable plan for infrastructure construction, economic growth and job creation that the Haitian state, the people of Haiti and its diaspora can validate.
With much of Port-au-Prince destroyed, a million or more homeless, plus a large backlog of unattended infrastructures, we could be looking at US$50 billion of fresh capital needed over the next eight to 10 years for new construction. So how should Haiti attract the necessary foreign direct investments and create half to one million export-based living wage jobs that will expand the economy for all?
A basic requirement is to limit the role of aid missions in long term development. Even with the best of intentions they distort Haitian reality and waste much time and resources trying to comprehend a society that mystifies them.
Then, it is high time to consider the long standing proposal to entrust the co-ordination and execution of Haiti’s economic development to an independent authority. This body that would focus exclusively on infrastructure construction, economic growth and job creation could be called the Building Haiti Authority (BHA).
Unlike current efforts, it would be led by professionals of Haitian descent whose credentials would include recent global experience in financing, building and managing billion dollar projects. Activities would preferably include the creation of or improvements to airports, manufacturing facilities, commercial space, multi-family housing, ports, utilities, hydroelectric dams, profitable agricultural ventures and world-class free trade zones.
The BHA would work in tandem with the Haitian government while enjoying irreversible autonomy along with the authority to raise money from capital markets. Repayment of loans would be guaranteed by a documented regime of fees, tolls and revenue from leases. And to ensure the success of these ventures, the government would enact comprehensive legal and regulatory reforms protecting investments, private property and rationalizing corporate law to promote entrepreneurship.
Precedents for the proposed BHA can be found in recent American history when independent super agencies were organized to remedy major economic and structural deficiencies. The institutions Robert Moses created with the autonomy granted by the State of New York first come to mind. Beginning in 1924 through 1960, he used this permission to finance and build the highways, tunnels, bridges, Jones Beach and more, giving rise to a state-wide park and highway system and today’s compelling greater New York City area.
Another case in point is the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) created in the midst of the Great Depression. Exercising broad federal prerogatives, the TVA quickly built a dozen hydroelectric dams through the Second World War. Today, it still oversees a vast network of energy producing facilities, as well as irrigation and transportation canals that continue to fuel the prosperity and growth of agriculture and manufacturing in Tennessee and five neighbouring states.
Finally, the Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC) established jointly by the City and State of New York, which faced impending bankruptcy in 1975 is another good example. Under the leadership of financier Felix Rohatyn, the MAC restored New York to fiscal health.
These three examples show how crucial the introduction of rigorous fiscal and economic discipline to the planning and implementation of programs impacting public interests has been in securing their success. Unlike aid projects that rarely meet basic viability criteria, private-public authority ventures must pay for themselves.
With these and other precedents in mind, the BHA could be structured quickly and set immediately to tackle long-standing failings of Haiti’s economy. The mission that would govern its operations would include the priorities that follow.
First, the BHA would work promptly to secure between US$3 to US$5 billion in credit and equity yearly. These sums would complete strategic projects that BHA would optimize by undertaking joint ventures with qualified private sector partners.
Second, priorities should include basic infrastructure development and the creation of industrial zones that will attract manufacturers mainly from Asia to lease millions of square feet of new facilities with easy access to fully equipped ports and airports, and a regulatory and trade climate that supports the gainful employment of 150,000 to 250,000 people. The productivity of Haitian workers in apparel and electronic assembly has been demonstrated for over 30 years and is a guarantee for growth in foreign exchange revenue.
Third, targeting Port-au-Prince and nearby towns impacted by the earthquake, the BHA would devise suitable financing instruments. Loans would be made available to individuals and institutions interested in building residences, schools and commercial establishments in accordance with revised national building codes and design standards.
Fourth, to serve five million residents in rural areas, the BHA would manage a development strategy also predicated on profitability and growth. Emphasis would be on fresh food production to meet increased demand from employed workers in towns. The BHA would also provide the necessary incentives to generate electricity, build and manage water resources, improve land usage, involve local contractors in feeder road construction and maintenance, and move ahead with reforestation.
This is not a proposal to be considered in an undetermined future; the matters at hand are critically urgent. The free trade zones needed outside Port-au-Prince to put people to work should have been completed soon after the U.S. Congress granted unprecedented trade access to Haiti. It is year two of the amended Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE II), which aims to provide the country with 10 years of tariff exemptions, and still nothing meaningful has been undertaken. Weeks after the earthquake, the call for action is deafening and the need to act palpable.
Yves Savain, originally from Haiti, is the President of KeyBridge International, a Maryland trade, marketing and consulting company that operates in the Caribbean, Central America, the United States and Canada.
