Why Investing NOW in Haiti is Good Bussiness for You (Excerpts & Videos)

It is a good idea to read the excerpts, watch the videos, and listen (and spread the word) to the Very Special Speakers at the "Haiti Special Session" at Davos’ World Economic Forum:

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> Dr. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman,
World Economic Forum; 
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> William J. Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation;
President of the United States (1993-2001); 
UN Special Envoy to Haiti;
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> Denis O’Brien, Executive Chairman, Digicel, Ireland; 
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> Celso Amorim, Foreign Minister, Brazil;
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> Helen E. Clark, Administrator, 
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); 
Former New Zealand's Prime-Minister;  
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> Robert Greenhill, 
Managing Director and Chief Business Officer, 
World Economic Forum; 
Former President of Canada’s International Development Agency. 
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PART 01: "...Disasters of this magnitude serve as a harsh reminder of how fragile life can sometimes be, but it is also during these moments that we are reminded of the common humanity which we all share..."

> Dr. Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum.

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PART 02: "...The World Economic Forum has agreed, Klaus has, to work with us in partnership to work between now and the Clinton Global Initiative in September and then for the next couple of years to increase private sector involvement in Haiti...." 

   

> William J. Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation; President of the United States (1993-2001); UN Special Envoy to Haiti.

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PART 03:

"...the Haitian government had a commitment to modernize the country and the UN said – the UN Secretary General said, ‘We want you to go in there and help them by making sure that the donor nations and international organizations honor their commitment and we get more private investment’. And I said that I would do it, but only if I were helping the Haitians to implement their own plan, that our goal this time should not be helping the country, but helping the country to stand on its own, to determine its own destiny, to be sustainable in a different and fundamentally positive way... Don’t tell me they can’t do this... Here’s the most important thing those of you who are on the outside of this need to know: 97% of the people who came to the investment conference agreed with Denis O’Brien. They said they were surprised by the positive opportunities available there for them. I want ‘them’ to become you..." 

 

> William J. Clinton, Founder, William J. Clinton Foundation; President of the United States (1993-2001); UN Special Envoy to Haiti.

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PART 04:  

"...We’ve invested about $370 million over the last four years. It’s a terrific place to do business, believe it or not. The government policies are very favourably disposed towards foreign direct investors. But more importantly, Haiti has a very young population and, you know, we have 900 staff, they’re a hugely talented people. They’re very committed, they’re very hard-working and, you know, there are 10 million consumers in the marketplace (...) By way of example, just to give you an example of how committed people are, I met a man the other day. He came back to work. He lost five of his family and he still showed up for work. So, you know, I think Haitian workers, Haitian staff, Haitian managers – and most of our business is now run by Haitian managers – are, you know, some of the best people in the world. And, you know, you probably will ask yourselves this morning ‘where are the opportunities for me and my business?’ And, first of all, there’s opportunities in tourism, particularly in the northern part around Cape Haitian, there’s some wonderful beaches, already the cruise liners are coming in there. There’s hotel groups like Choice Hotels, Best Western are coming in there and investing money. But also in the area of light manufacturing, particularly in textiles and apparel, because there is a thing called the ‘HOPE II Agreement’, which allows manufacturers of these goods to have very favorable tariff treatments in the United States and I know the President has been involved in pushing that. There’s also opportunities for food production. In food production, a Taiwanese group are putting 16 million into rice production. But also for people who are in the rebuilding, reconstruction, construction business, property development, I think there’s an enormous opportunity for those people to come in now and make very solid investments. Also, in infrastructure, electricity generation as well. And, you know, we, in the space of four or five years since we been there we’ve never had any problem with our business. We’ve never had any difficulties with the government. And that’s why I actually think that this market is at the doorstep of the wealthiest consumer market in the United States and most of us in this room have investments all over the world, but they’re generally pretty boring, if you like, you know, because they’re all, you know, they’re doing – they’re making money, creating jobs in other countries and that, but Haiti is not boring. It’s challenging, but it’s also a way where you can actually strengthen your management team by actually sending them there and blood them in this new market. And I’d have to say, you know, Haiti is wide open for business and for those of you who are looking for a low-cost manufacturing location right close to the US, please go and register today at the Haiti desk or get in touch with the Clinton Global Initiative, because within the CGI we are really trying to push investment. I will personally go and make a presentation to you, even though I’m not the foreign direct investment agency for Haiti. But, you know, I just can’t strongly, you know, urge you enough to actually do something. And, you know, do it for the right reasons. Not just do it for altruistic reasons, but to do it for economic reasons, because Haiti is a great country and tomorrow it’s going to be even a better country..."

 

> Denis O’Brien, Executive Chairman, Digicel, Ireland.  

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PART 05: 

"...The markets are reviving, even the street markets and certainly it’s not boring. And actually, what I would say, just as an aside, I didn’t think to say that, but even in the aspect of art, painting and music, that’s also an area which can bring money and which can be used (...) I always came to this Forum only to speak about trade and WTO and so on. This is the time to show the WTO is not only about profit and greed. This is the time for all the countries to offer – all the countries – all developed countries and all developing countries that can do so to offer duty-free quota-free to all Haitian products which facilitated rules of origin. That is what would really make a difference."  

   

> Celso Amorim, Foreign Minister, Brazil.

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PART 06:  

"...As President Clinton said, there was an economic recovery plan driven by the government of Haiti in place before this catastrophe. That plan must not stop. That plan must be accelerated. There are large parts of Haiti which were not directly physically impacted where, as President Clinton said, the work can go on now. So, I’ve come today representing the Secretary General to be extraordinarily supportive of the initiative that President Clinton and the World Economic Forum are putting to you and to say that the role of the private sector, the role of the foundations, the role of the NGOs, this is just so important, alongside the role that governments can play and alongside the role of the development banks and the multilateral institutions. It’s about unique partnerships where everybody plays a role in supporting Haiti at this hour of need to build back better and to actually renew..." 

 

> Helen E. Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Former New Zealand's Prime-Minister.

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PART 07: 

"...I’m very proud of the leadership role of Canada, together with Brazil and the United States and others on this issue. Well, what we’re calling for now goes beyond that. We’re calling for a global partnership and we’re actually calling upon people to go beyond engaging – beyond giving, to engaging. To actually, after the TV cameras have gone, to continue with the hard work of creating work, sustainable work through sustainable jobs for Haitians. And we actually think the power of the international business community could be a major force behind that. So how do we hope to do that? Well, as President Clinton mentioned, we’ll be working under the Haitian leadership with a Haitian economic development plan. What we’ll be doing, together with the Clinton Foundation, is we’ll be working in collaboration gathering together those business leaders here who are interested in engaging and actually committing to procuring, potentially looking at investing, partnering to help build Haitian jobs and Haitian businesses. (...) the theme of this year’s Davos is ‘Rethink, Redesign, Rebuild’ and we’re saying we should rethink how we engage in these challenging situations. We should redesign how we work together and we’re going to be a model of that and together we can rebuild Haiti..."

 

> Robert Greenhill, Managing Director and Chief Business Officer, World Economic Forum, Former President of Canada’s International Development Agency. 

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Related Links:

1. Full Video (ENG|FRA|DEU)
2. Full Transcript (ENG)
3. World Economic Forum
4. Clinton Global Initiative
5. Brazilian Government | Operação Haiti (POR)
6. UNDP - United Nations Development Program (ENG|ESP|FRA)
7. Canada's International Development Agency (ENG|FRA)
8. Embassy of Haiti, Washington D.C. - USA
9. Digicel Group
10. Google for Haiti
    
    

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