WIN, Soros to Fund Haitian Industrial Park

It's been a big few weeks for Haiti, the most impoverished nation in the Americas.

Bill Clinton visited the country last week in his capacity as special U.N. envoy to Haiti to encourage international investment there. This week, right on the heels of Clinton's visit, comes news that "the Haiti-based conglomerate WIN Group and the Soros Economic Development Fund today announced plans to develop a $45 million industrial park to jumpstart industry," according to an October 6 article in Business Wire.

The industrial park, which will be called the "West Indies Free Zone," will "include more than 1.2 million square feet of turn-key rentable space. It will target local and international manufacturers as well as warehousing businesses and offer tax, customs and processing advantages to tenants."

The 300,000 residents of the Haitian city of Cité Soleil, which is close to the park, will likely see as many as 25,000 jobs created for the community.

"We are beyond proud to have had President Clinton visit what we view as a transformative project in Haiti, and a key element of the country’s ultimate economic revitalization,” Youri Mevs, managing partner of WIN Group, told Business Wire. "While humanitarian aid is crucial to Haiti, we must build an infrastructure that lays the foundation for ongoing, sustainable economic growth. In the long term, job creation is the first step to improving people’s quality of life.”

Talks are already underway with a number of companies in North America that would be in a position to take advantage of the cheap labor pool surrounding the new complex.

"We are committed to supporting Haiti’s economic growth," Stewart J. Paperin, president of the Soros Economic Development Fund, told Business Wire. "This project will create thousands of jobs and attract the types of businesses crucial to helping Haiti expand its economic capabilities."

The first phase of the West Indies Free Zone is scheduled to be open for tenants in 2012.

Photo courtesy of sskennel, via Flickr