ARTICLE - ATLANTA TRADE MISSION SUCCESS

SUCCESS OF THE FIRST TRADE MISSION OF THE CONSULATE GENERAL OF HAITI IN ATLANTA
(Haiti Libre) -

As part of Business diplomacy advocated by Laurent Lamothe, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Consulate General of Haiti in Atlanta held last week, its first trade mission in Haiti. This is the third Consulate after Miami and New York to respond concretely to the call of Laurent Lamothe. The delegation of businessmen led by Thomas Gandy, was composed of: Ceasar C. Mitchell, President of the Atlanta City Council, who participated as a businessman, Eddy Benoit, President and CEO of Group Benoit, as well as Jerome Russel, President of H.J. Russell & Company. Jeff Gram, an international developer who has made notable projects in various countries and the Honorary Consul for Belize, who was to take part in this delegation, could not make the trip because of an inconvenience at the last minute, but nevertheless participated in working sessions by conference call.

During their 4 day visit that ended last Sunday, members of the mission met various personalities, Karl Jean-Louis, Director General of the Investment Facilitation Center; Pierre-Richard Casimir, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Jude Hervey Day, Minister of Planning and External Cooperation; Philippe Saint-Cyr, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce of Haiti; René Jean-Jumeau, Ph.D., Secretary of State for Energy; Hébert Docteur, Minister of Agriculture; John G. Robinson, Head of Economic Section of the American Embassy in Haiti and M. Georges Barau Sassine, Executive Director of the Tripartite Commission for the Implementation of the Hope Law met during a working lunch; M. Muscadin Jean-Yves Jason, Mayor of the City of Port-au-Prince; Ms. Stéphanie Balmir-Villedrouin, Minister of Tourism; and Antoine Salim Succar, Adviser to the President of the Republic.

During their stay, the delegation headed by the Consul of Atlanta, visited the industrial park of Caracol, the seaside of the city of Fort-Liberté, the industrial parks of Sonapi and Shodecosa, and the Iron Market of Port-au-Prince.

The delegation expressed interest in the textile, tourism, infrastructure (ports and airports) and agriculture sectors.

In the short term, Eddy Benoit of the Benoit Group will install an organic tea factory, which will create direct employment in agriculture and industry. Jeff Gram is very interested in building a hotel in the north or south of the country; feasibility studies are underway. Mr. Mitchell and Russell are in talks with the owner of the Hotel Mont Joli in Cap Haitien, Mr. Nicholas Bussenius for a joint venture, a project of 5 million dollars to renovate and expand its capacity.

The day after the end of this mission [Monday, March 19], Jérome Russell met with partners to decide where he will invest. Tuesday evening, the Consul of Atlanta was in a meeting with Mr. Benoît to follow up. Hopefully, other Consulates follow the same dynamic, to make economic development a reality in Haiti.

Congratulations to the Consulate General of Haiti in Atlanta, and thank you to the diaspora for having answered positively to the call of Business diplomacy advocated by Laurent Lamothe.