The bank, which invests hundreds of millions of dollars in Haiti, is sponsoring a two-day investment forum in Port-au-Prince beginning Tuesday. So far, 1,000 people have registered, 500 of them business people from 29 countries. As attendees began pouring into the country and taking over every available hotel room, the IDB, President Michel Martelly, Prime Minister Garry Conille and former U.S. President Bill Clinton spent the day spreading the news in back-to-back events across the country. Early Monday, Moreno and Martelly inaugurated a newly rehabilitated Route National 1, the country's main road that connects the capital in the south to Cap-Haitien in the north. The symbolic ribbon-cutting culminated three years of construction by the Dominican road building firm Estrella. Later they joined Clinton and Conille in laying the first stone of the new industrial park, an investment worth more than $300 million. The park's first tenants include one of Korea's biggest clothing manufactures, Sae-A, which will eventually employ 20,000 people. About 5,000 new houses will surround the area, courtesy of the IDB and U.S. Agency for International Development. "This is the kind of change we want," Martelly said. "This is what they call durable development." But that development Clinton, reminded Haitian authorities and donors, has come about because Haitians and donors worked together. "If people keep working together, we can give you the future you deserve," he said. And that future, will soon include the Marriott name. The hotel announced late in the afternoon that it will open its first full-fledged Marriott hotel in Haiti in two years. The $45 million 173-room hotel is a partnership with telecom giant, Digicel. "Today is Bob the Builder day in Haiti," Denis O'Brien, the owner of Digicel said, referring to the projects' previously announced and his coming hotel. "By doing this hotel, we hope that this is going to be a message to other foreign direct investors, 'Come on in.' " Arnie Sorenson, president and chief operating officer for Marriott International, said the earthquake "opened our eyes" to Haiti. "We are not here saying we are doing this because of good social work. That is obviously an extra special feature because of where Haiti is at,'' Sorenson said. "It needs to continue to develop, stabilize after the earthquake, continue to bring in foreign direct investment and have commerce, and tell people it's a safe place to invest. Our being involved helps all of those things." |
From the Press
IDB hails new industrial park in northern Haiti
Monday, 22 October 2012 21:16 UTC
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.
La BID : 50 millions de dollars pour le Parc industriel de Caracol
La Banque interaméricaine de développement (BID) a annoncé l’accord pour l’octroi d’un don pour Haïti s’élevant à 50 millions de dollars américains. Ces fonds sont destinés à la deuxième phase de construction du Parc Industriel de Caracol dans le nord d’Haïti.
FACT CHECK — THE NEW YORK TIMES: Earthquake Relief Where Haiti Wasn’t Broken
On July 6, 2012, the New York Times published an article entitled: “Earthquake Relief Where Haiti Wasn’t Broken”. The piece has numerous factual errors and does not address many of the most salient points about the development of the Northern Corridor.
«Je suis impressionné», s'exclame le président Martelly - 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!
Caracol : le rêve de 20 000 emplois prendra forme très lentement : 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 ? --Le Nouvelliste 3 mai 2012
"We're no longer talking just about garment assembly. We are talking about a true textile industry short of planting cotton. That is what is being developed', said George Sassine, who is also responsible for implementing the US congress-approved duty-free legislation benefitting the garment industry". -- The Miami Herald, 29 March 2011