Thursday, the 3rd Conference of Heads of Diplomatic Mission of Haiti (July 27 and 28) began in the Hotel Kinam, the opening ceremony, to which intervened the de facto President Jocelerme Privert, has gathered several ministers, parliamentarians, senior officials and heads of about 27 Haitian diplomatic mission.

Chancellor Pierrot Délienne opened the ceremony stating that this activity did not aim to learn their trade to diplomats but to promote a sharing of experiences and lessons learned to better target the actions of the Haitian diplomacy.

In his speech Jocelerme Privert provided an overview of the current situation before insisting on the necessity of holding elections this year warning that "the non-holding of these elections is not safe for the democratic future of country. If there is no election on the 2nd Monday of January there will be no National Assembly, the Government will have no legitimacy and the Executive dysfunctional "

He also instructed his representatives at States and international organizations, to carry and defend the position of the Haitian authorities, that elections should be held this year declaring "I pledge to make every effort to achieve of free, honest and democratic elections. The elections will allow us to fill the gaps at the level of the Executive, Legislative as the Judiciary."

In addition, he informed that the Ministry of Finance had proposed a possible scenario https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-18169-haiti-elections-the-3-funding-scenarios-of-elections-of-government.html to find the necessary 55 million from funding sources solely from the Haitian economy saying "[...] sources of funding for the next elections have been identified. The elections will be held with national resources. No sacrifice is too great to ensure the installation of a President elected February 7, 2017."

Summary of the first day :

Deux thématiques ont été traitées : « Gouvernance et Développement » et « Commerce, investissement et Développement ».

The Minister of Finance opened the works by making an inventory without concessions of the current economic situation. He considered important that representatives of Haiti have an exact idea of our weaknesses and initiatives taken by the Government to deal with the challenges.

In his speech, Guy Marie Louis, the Director of the Diplomatic Academy Jean Price-Mars, after a history of the Academy and of its objectives it attaches to strengthen the Haitian diplomacy, advocated the creation of a strategic analysis and forecasting center to help better define the foreign policy of Haiti.

For his part, Chancellor Délienne made an overview the major challenges faced by Haiti and that are reflected on the diplomatic work. In a non-exhaustive way, he mentioned in particular the alarming increase in Haitian migration in Latin America, governance issues and new trends that are emerging like the proliferation of mosques and Koranic schools in Haiti.

Ambassadors Pierre-André Dunbar (WTO) and Madsen Cherub (Brazil) made a presentation on the role to be played by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Haitian economy https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-17753-haiti-economy-low-rise-of-foreign-direct-investment-2015.html , and their limitations. The two diplomats have pointed the difficulties that Haitian diplomatic missions face in promoting investment through a lack of consistent information or the lack of direct relationships with the Haitian businessmen organizations.

Ms. Carline Joseph of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti (CHIC) and Mr. Grégory Brandt of the World Economic Forum, presented the perspective of the Haitian private sector. Brandt has listed five sectors which according to him are carriers for the Haitian economy: livestock, fruits and vegetables, textiles, home and housing, added to certain cross-cutting sectors such as ports, airports, infrastructure and energy.

Following the interventions, discussion sessions allowed fruitful exchanges between Heads of Mission, who shared their experiences and difficulties. The Minister Délienne closed the first day around 7:30 p.m.

See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-18156-icihaiti-politic-3rd-conference-of-heads-of-diplomatic-mission-of-haiti.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-16086-haiti-training-launch-of-master-ii-program-in-diplomacy.html

HL/ HaitiLibre