Bill Clinton Stumps for Haiti Investment

No country in the Western Hemishpere needs help as badly as Haiti, which consistently ranks as one of the world's poorest countries. That's one reason former President Bill Clinton was in Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital, as part of an international trade mission sponsored in part by the Inter-American Development Bank, according to an article by Jacqueline Charles in the Miami Herald.

"This is really important. You came here to see what was going on and to see if this Haiti thing was real or just PR,'' Clinton was quoted as saying to the business and civic leaders, that included 200 foreign investors.

Charles wrote that Clinton "told investors that the more specific they are about their problems or challenges the quicker he and his staff can help cut through government red tape, or finalize the deals." This promise was part of a speech Clinton made, one in which "he commended Haiti's Latin American neighbors for their interest in investing here, discussed the need for energy alternatives and thanked the Haitian government for helping its diaspora in the United States, Canada and France to improve the lives of the poor."

Clinton also told the assembled investors and politicians that a few companies were already preparing to move. An Irish company wants to open a Port-au-Prince call center. Also pledging to build are Royal Caribbean and George Soros' Open Society Institute. The institute is partly funding an industrial park, an investment that could create 25,000 new garment industry positions.

Another aspect of help for Haiti concerns AIDS.

"Clinton and Haitian President Rene Preval signed an agreement to invite the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative to provide support to the government, to help expand access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment services and strengthen the systems required to deliver primary health care services," Charles wrote.

Photo courtesy of sharedferret, via Flickr