Monday, as part of its policy of investment promotion, the Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, accompanied by Fresnel Jean-Baptiste, Director General of the General Administration of Customs and Antoine Atouriste Director General of the Unit for Combating Corruption (ULCC) has visited the facilities of Rhum Barbancourt and the industrial campuses of Coles Group comprising Tropic S.A, Cannex and Sun Food in order to support the Haitian private sector in its efforts to create jobs for the population.

During his visit to the Barbancourt factory, the oldest Haitian businesses [founded in 1862], the Head of Government met with Thierry Gardère, the CEO of Rhum Barbancourt, which mainly produces dark rums [3 stars (4 years old); 5 stars (8 years old); "Réserve du Domaine" (15 years of age)], products recognized internationally and exported to more than 20 countries, mainly in the Caribbean, the United States, France and Italy.

"We are very pleased to visit the company Rhum Barbancourt , a producer of rum internationally recognized for its authenticity and quality [...] In support of my Governmentto companies that create jobs, we want to visit these companies to show them that the government wants to continue to support all companies, including Rhum Barbancourt [...] This visit is for my government, a way to inform us of the operation of enterprises, in order to move forward with all investors [...]" During his visit, the Prime Minister also addressed the issue of export of Barbancourt rums in the Dominican market, recalling "We raised the question of reciprocal trade in the last dialogue we have had with our colleagues in the Binational Dialogue, he said, We will return again with this commitment to allow Haitian companies like rum Barbancourt to sell its products in the Dominican Republic with much more ease."

After this visit, Laurent Lamothe and his delegation went to Tabarre, visit the Industrial Campus of Coles Group headed by Serge and Stéphane Coles [4,000 jobs across the country]. The Campus includes the The Campus includesTropic SA [Manufacturer drinks Aquafine, Tampico, Ragaman, Robusto, Fiesta, Big Shake, Megawatt, Pop Cola, Tampico Soda]; Cannex specializing in the production of milk and Sun Food producer of cubes and tablets chicken.

Prime Minister Lamothe congratulated the executives for having invested in 4 years more than 20 million U.S. dollars in Haiti "These investments have created thousands of jobs in the country. They participate in the government's vision, which gives high priority to domestic production."

HL/ SL/ HaitiLibre