Manufacturing facility generates jobs, exports in less than one year since groundbreaking.

WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A. (IDB) -- Inter-American Development Bank President Luis Alberto Moreno today joined Haitian President Michel Martelly, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former U.S. President Bill Clinton for the inauguration of the Caracol Industrial Park (CIP), a modern manufacturing facility in northern Haiti.

The CIP is a project backed by the Haitian and U.S. governments and the IDB to promote investment and job-creation in a region beset by high poverty and unemployment rates. Once fully developed, the industrial park may host as many as 40,000 workers, whose salaries would inject millions of dollars every month into the local economy.

Along with the CIP, various donor countries and international organizations are supporting other projects to improve agriculture, transportation, housing, energy, education, water and sanitation and healthcare in northern Haiti.

An article appearing in the New York Times today (Earthquake Relief Where Haiti Wasn't Broken) paints a dim view of one of the largest and most ambitious regional investment projects in Haiti's history. The development in the North will not only transform thousands of lives, but also brings new opportunities to one of Haiti's poorest regions. While many may only know about the challenges we have faced since the earthquake in January 2010, we have long faced adversity and had been working vigorously to attract investors. And since the earthquake, the odds of succeeding have not been on our side. We need to provide affordable housing to families affected by the earthquake. We need to attract investment and create jobs so households can sustain their livelihoods and overcome dependence on remittances and charity. We need to hold free and fair elections and strengthen the rule of law in Haiti. And we need to give more kids a chance to attend better schools. The Haitian Government has made visible progress in all these important areas.

Le président de la commission CTMO-HOPE, Henri-Claude Muller Poitevien s'est insurgé contre un article du new York Times.

Haïti: Lundi 7 mai 2012. Il est 11 h 25 a.m. Le président Michel Joseph Martelly arrive à bord d'un hélico. Il foule le sol du parc industriel de Caracol en compagnie de l'ambassadeur américain Kenneth Merten et du ministre de l'Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle, Réginald Paul. Tenue décontractée : chemise rayée, pantalon jeans bleu bottes. Il n'a pas effectué une visite surprise, car on l'attendait depuis son retour au pays après quelques jours d'absence pour des raisons de santé. Il n'y a pas eu de foule au parc industriel, mais des employés qui criaient vive Martelly!

Ceux qui avaient visité le Nord et le Nord-Est, à la fin de 2011 et au début de cette année 2012, ont constaté toute la propagande, à travers d'énormes panneaux publicitaires faite autour du parc industriel de Caracol, avant parc industriel de la région Nord. Ces messages annonçaient la création de 20 000 emplois au cours de cette année. La réalité en a décidé autrement. Quelle réalité ?

 Grand projet qui fait couler beaucoup d'encre, le parc industriel de Caracol dépasse ce stade. Maintenant le concret saute aux yeux. Les premiers entrepôts, les premiers bâtiments sont en voie d'achèvement, pour le bonheur de la population, qui a déjà sollicité avec CV à l'appui plus de 2 000 emplois. Visite au sein du plus grand parc industriel d'Haïti.

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.

CARACOL, Haiti, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Haiti and its international partners broke ground on Monday on a $257 million industrial park that represents the largest foreign investment since the Caribbean nation was hit by a catastrophic earthquake nearly two years ago.

The 608-acre (246-hectare) Caracol Industrial Park on Haiti's northwest coast will be anchored by a South Korean textile firm, Sae-A Trading Co Ltd, which has committed to hire 20,000 people. That would make it the largest private employer in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.

NEW YORK — The apparel industry is playing a crucial role in helping to rebuild Haiti less than two years after a devastating earthquake brought ruin to the impoverished Caribbean country.

Former President Bill Clinton unveiled several initiatives through the Clinton Global Initiative Monday night to help rebuild the island nation, including an $85 million investment from South Korean manufacturer Sae-A Trading Corp. to be the anchor in the new 617-acre Caracol Industrial Park free trade zone, where it aims to create 20,000 jobs.

Standing in the middle of the dirt-poor rural village on a cool afternoon, the neatly dressed Korean garment tycoon surveyed the rugged mountaintops and surrounding bean fields as he tried to envision the future a year from now.

But it wasn’t until Kim Woong Ki stared into the curious faces surrounding him that the chairman of Korea’s leading manufacturer and exporter of textiles and clothing, realized the real value of his $78 million business investment decision.

Haiti's economy is getting a boost thanks to a venture with one of Korea's largest companies that promises to bring 20,000 garment industry jobs to a new industrial park in the north of the country.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive were joined by members of the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission, the Inter-American Development Bank, Haitian business leaders and the chairman of Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd. at the Haiti Apparel Center in Port-au-Prince as they signed an agreement to build the North Industrial Park. It's part of an effort to rebuild the Haitian economy that began even before the earthquake struck one year ago.

PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Last January, hundreds of thousands of Haitians lost their lives and millions lost their homes in an earthquake that flattened much of the capital. A year later, Haitians appear to have lost something else: hope.

The impoverished Caribbean nation marks the anniversary of the Jan. 12, 2010, quake on Wednesday with little to cheer. Haiti's government, which itself was hit hard by the quake, has been incapable of responding to the crisis. Foreign aid has trickled in, and a rush of well-meaning charities have led to chaos.

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- Haiti's economy is getting a boost thanks to a venture with one of Korea's largest companies that promises to bring 20,000 garment industry jobs to a new industrial park in the north of the country.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive were joined by members of the Interim Haitian Recovery Commission, the Inter-American Development Bank, Haitian business leaders and the chairman of Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd. at the Haiti Apparel Center in Port-au-Prince as they signed an agreement to build the North Industrial Park. It's part of an effort to rebuild the Haitian economy that began even before the earthquake struck one year ago.

CARACOL,Haiti (AP) — The biggest international project aimed at helping Haiti rebound from the 2010 earthquake eased closer to reality at a ceremony Monday.

The deal on the eve of the one-year anniversary of Haiti's devastating earthquake will make Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd. the largest private employer in an impoverished Caribbean nation desperate for work.

Officials said it will create 20,000 jobs -- though many who work in Haiti's few existing garment factories today say their low wages are not enough to feed their families.