Haiti’s Open for Business

With this past January marking two years since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, concerns for the country’s future are fresh in everyone’s minds. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC) were honored to host Haiti’s Prime Minister, H.E. Dr. Garry Conille, as well as other Haitian government officials, to discuss the future of business opportunity in the country. 

“Real development requires private investment.” - Prime Minister Conille

The greater part of the meeting focused on American foreign direct investment in Haiti.  Under Prime Minister Conille’s direction, the Haitian government is developing a comprehensive plan to spur private investment including legal reform to ease the investment process, infrastructure development and bolstering public-private partnerships. Their goal is to “rebrand” Haiti as a country with tremendous opportunity for business investment in the infrastructure, tourism and energy space.

“Haiti is open for business, and we want to make sure that companies engage and take advantage of the wonderful opportunities opening up in the country,” said Jodi Bond, vice president, Americas, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA) and BCLC have a history of supporting development in Haiti. BCLC was one of the first organizations to lead a business delegation to explore investment and partnership opportunities post-earthquake and our members continue to have a positive impact in the country.