Haiti needs more than remittances, U.S. ambassador says, it needs investment
As a hunger crisis and political protests grip Haiti, the country’s U.S. ambassador met with a contingent of the Haitian diaspora Friday in North Miami to address U.S. efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and, in the long run, financial support to help local entrepreneurs bolster the local economy.
Ambassador Michele Sison was the keynote speaker at the eighth annual National Alliance for the Advancement of Haitian Professionals Conference at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay Campus.
“It has been a challenging last couple of weeks in Haiti,” she said. “But I really wanted to come and connect with you all.”
She mentioned the roadblocks across the country, and deteriorating conditions that have kept school-age children from attending classes regularly this school year. The political crises have led to humanitarian issues and economic uncertainty, she said.
“We need to look at the challenges, we’ve got to look at the opportunities that are there and we need to work together forward on a positive trajectory,” she said. “Because we’re all asking ourselves, ‘How do we help Haiti move forward?’”
Many of the attendees Friday, during the first part of the two-day conference, represented the business community of the diaspora living across the U.S. Speakers discussed ideas to establish new platforms tailored to Haitian needs, such as using crypto-currency to send remittances to family members in Haiti. Some also mentioned spreading positive news about the country to combat the negative headlines coming out of the country.
Sison discussed U.S. efforts to encourage investment in small and medium-sized businesses owned by Haitians or Haitian-Americans, and to give young entrepreneurs and women more opportunities to succeed in business.
In May, the U.S. government through the United States Agency for International Development introduced its Haiti Invest program to give Haitian companies access to credit through an online platform. Sison said limited access to financing was a major constraint to private-sector development and job creation.
She said Haiti lags behind the rest of the Caribbean in World Bank rankings of credit to the private sector as a factor of Gross Domestic Product.
“Haiti needs investment,” she said.
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 6:12 PM.
.JPG)