Tuesday, as part of his official visit to Bahamas, President Michel Martelly met in Nassau, the Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Perry Christie.

Arguing for a better understanding and reconciliation of Haitian and Bahamian people, the President of the Republic has reaffirmed its determination to take all necessary steps to reduce the flow of Haitian migrants in the Bahamas and argued for the improvement of treatment of Haitiansliving in the Bahamas and to facilitate their integration.

Following this meeting Perry Christie declared "The framework agreement for bilateral co-operation allows for enhanced co-operation between the Bahamas and Haiti with respect to the exchange of information between law enforcement agencies in our two countries, joint projects between relevant agencies pertaining to security initiatives and border control, and legal migration [...]" The signing followed trilateral talks on migration issues between the Bahamas, the Republic of Haiti and the Turks and Caicos Islands held at the Melia Hotel.

Heads of government discussed shared challenges concerning illegal migration and committed to strengthened co-operation in information and intelligence sharing and increased assistance on interdiction efforts to curb drug trafficking and illegal fishing.

Consideration was also given to the possibility of formalising co-operation with the Turks and Caicos in a Memorandum of Understanding.

Prime Minister Perry Christie stressed the important contribution of Haitian migrants in the Bahamas recalling that "The mother of the Bahamas’ ninth governor general Sir Arthur Foulkes was Haitian. Stephen Dillet, our first black Member of Parliament, was Haitian and several prominent businessmen in the Bahamas are Haitian. Although the migration of Haitian nationals to the Bahamas is often seen in a negative light, it is important to note the positive impact of legal migration."

On the sidelines of the bilateral meeting, the Haitian and Bahamian governments have initialed an agreement on scientific and technical cooperation capacity of port institutions; an agreement of commercial and technical cooperation in the field of quality control of agricultural products and export fisheries https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-11643-haiti-economy-towards-the-commercialization-of-haitian-agricultural-products-in-bahamas.html and an agreement on the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments.

Accompanied by Wilson Laleau, Minister of Trade and Industry, Thomas Jacques, Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Rural Development and Haitian businessmen, the Head of State took advantage of the visit to remind that the various meetings between the authorities of both States, during his tenure, are tangible evidence of the willingness of his administration to strengthen and harmonize relations between the Republic of Haiti and Bahamas and invited businessmen of Bahamas to come and invest in Haiti in the areas of agriculture, tourism, resources and mining, infrastructure construction, agro-industry, etc...

President Martelly stressed the importance that the people of Haiti and Bahamian understand each other and come together, to better exploit the enormous opportunities for exchange and cooperation between them.

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HL/ SL/ HaitiLibre