ARTICLE - MARTELLY IN SPAIN - FUNDING OF $50 MILLION

VISIT OF MARTELLY IN SPAIN, A FUND FOR $50 MILLION
(Haiti Libre) -

Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced Thursday that Spain will create a fund of 50 million dollars to help Haitian financial institutions to provide loans to small and medium enterprises.

It is an aid that the Head of the Executive of Spain has promised to give to Haiti on the occasion of the visit to Spain of its President, Michel Martelly, the first in Europe since his taking office last May. According to Mr. Zapatero, the objective of this fund is that the Haitian banks be able to grant credit with "very favorable terms."

Mr. Zapatero also assured that Spain is determined to remain a major donor to Haiti. Spain is currently the third largest contributor in terms of bilateral cooperation with Haiti and the first in Europe. The cooperation of Spain will focus on three key areas: education, including teacher training, agriculture and tourism.

Spain has pledged to Haiti an aid of 346 million euros for 2010-2013.

For his part, Mr. Martelly thanked Mr. Zapatero for the assistance provided by Spain since well before the earthquake and stressed that in Haiti there are currently many investment opportunities, mainly in tourism, but also in energy and infrastructure. He invited Spanish investors to travel to Haiti "to see how to exploit this opportunity."