Haiti has a very large unemployed population. There simply are not enough jobs to employ the population, but the population is willing and motivated. If Haitians had jobs they would be able to provide for themselves and their families. Its not rocket science. The challenge or opportunity (depending on how you see it) is to create long term employment opportunities that can generate income for Haitians, across multiple sectors. There is growing interest in the textile and manufacturing sector. Haiti has duty free access to the US market through the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act of 2006 and 2008 respectively HOPE and HOPE II.
The challenge has always been how do you drum up support for a country like Haiti? To the unfamiliar its a diseased, poor and corrupt country with a long history of political and social instability. Investors are looking for safe and secure and therefore have been reluctant to invest. But the country might be poised to make a come back at least in textiles. Companies like the Gap and a new company that sprang up on Facebook Choose Haiti wants to convince consumers and large retailers that Haiti is worthy of their dollars and a great place for business. Haiti will obviously need more than factories to lift itself out of poverty but if other major companies join the ranks, its potential impact of the island is huge!
Aid will not last forever and donor fatigue is bound to happen. If factories can resume production and more investors can be convinced that Haiti is good for business, we just might have a winner on our hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment