As a representative body of intersecting economic interests, the Franco-Haitian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CFHCI) is compelled, due to the increasing number of reports from its members, to provide a summary of the current situation, marked by a gradual but constant destabilization of the minimum conditions for conducting economic activity.

"The situation cannot be summed up as a one-off crisis or ordinary market turbulence. What we are now witnessing is more akin to a functional disarticulation of state infrastructure, coupled with an informal reconfiguration of power relations within the territory, where traditional state norms are being supplanted, in effect, by extrajudicial power structures," emphasizes the CFHCI.

Paul Edouard Ternier, President of the CFHCI, on behalf of himself and the Board of Directors, explains "The first dividing line, unanimously acknowledged by our members, concerns the disintegration of the security network. Clearly, the increasing exposure of entire areas to autonomous, uncontained forms of violence has produced an unbalanced economic geography : accessible and isolated sectors coexist haphazardly, making trade flows unpredictable and industrial activities structurally vulnerable. The consequences are substantially tangible : permanent logistical overheads, the gradual decapitalization of production tools, and in some cases, the outright abandonment of operations.

The second difficulty lies in the erosion of the operational capacities of administrative institutions. What is at stake is not so much the temporary inefficiency of a particular service, but the very scarcity of institutional support points. The documentation system is slowed down, interactions between users and the administration are stretched, procedures become haphazard, and deadlines become indeterminate. This disruption generates an environment with low regulatory density, where public decision-making loses clarity, and where businesses become hostage to uncertain laws.

Finally, the third, more insidious, tension is symbolic: it stems from the gradual disaffiliation of the entrepreneurial fabric from traditional predictable frameworks. As the decorrelation between actual economic dynamics and formal regulatory frameworks intensifies, private actors are forced to constantly trade-off between compliance, survival, and withdrawal. However, an economy based on arbitrariness cannot aspire to viability.

Faced with this observation, the CFHCI is taking a stand at a time when indeterminacy is no longer sustainable [...] We are aware of the complexity of the current situation, nor of the seriousness of the challenges to be overcome. But we know that any economic reconstruction requires a minimum foundation of trust, security, and public efficiency. Without these foundations, production slows, taxation erodes, and the legitimacy of institutions weakens.

[...] Public authorities can no longer take refuge in observation. It is up to them to make decisions, to act with rigor and courage, to confront the collapse by fully exercising their responsibilities. Governing can no longer be postponed: order must be restored, trust restored, and the State embodied. Inaction, henceforth, is tantamount to abdication.

The CFHCI will pursue its mission with determination, in collaboration with its partners, and in accordance with its non-partisan role. Identifying problems is not accusing; it is preparing the ground for action."

HL/ HaitiLibre