Presidential

Martelly Promises 500,000 Jobs in Haiti in 3 Years

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - 500,000 jobs, President Michel Martelly announced in the presences of U.S. President Bill Clinton, Inter-American Bank President, Luis Alberto Moreno and more than 1,000 attendees of the "Invest in Haiti Forum."

In just three years the president is confident that a half-million Haitians will find work. He expressed this by appealing for work from foreign businessmen and entrepreneurs at Tuesday's forum. "Haitians do not want gifts, they need work," said the President.

The president did not speak with clarity, using a more French-heavy Creole, when asked by a Haitian journalists at a question and answer session that succeeded the forum.

Seeming to be a return to hostilities with journalists, Michel Martelly said the population, Haitian Diaspora and the press can be inhibitors or facilitators of investment.

Not speaking with specificity, according to Le Nouvelliste , the Head of State cited many sectors as opportunity for new employment, naming roads, ports, airports, agriculture, textiles and carnival as areas that can create jobs.

According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Wilson Laleau, foreign investors want reform in land and real estate policy and import taxes.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes to strengthen the Center for the Facilitation of Investments (CFI). "We will submit a draft to the government, which will in a short time start creating business in 10 days...," said Laleau.

"We have a legislative agenda that will be released before January 15, including all legal frameworks to encourage investment," added the head of government. Reforms in customs, taxation, security, the environment, and property rights said Prime Minister Garry Conille.

Prime Minister Projected 1,630,000 Jobs in 3 Years

President Michel Martelly's projections are modest compared to Prime Minister Garry Conille who a little more than a month prior and before the Senate of the Republic, projected 2.5 million jobs during his 4½-year mandate.

In Conille's declaration of general policy, 5.3.1 Employment Strategy:

The Haitian executives are ambitious but have employed very little professional consultation from economic experts or common consultation from the Haitian people. The Martelly-Conille government places its hopes on improving the image of the nation and appealing to foreign countries and corporations to reach its goals.