Haiti after the Earthquake: A Vision for Haitian Growth and Recovery

Manchester Trade has written a Strategy Memo outlining a vision for the economic recovery of Haiti after the devastating earthquake in January, with the following key recommendations:

1. The international community should agree on trade preferences that provide duty-free access to all imports from Haiti, with the only stipulation that Haiti contribute at least 15% of the value-added of each product.

2. The United States should take the lead in establishing an Infrastructure Fund for Haitian Economic Development to finance required infrastructure for Haiti to become a world-class manufacturing center.

3. Haiti should eliminate all import duties, following the examples of Hong Kong, Singapore and Mauritius, and turn the entire country into an Export Processing Zone.

4. The international community should provide tax incentives for investment in Haiti.

Manchester Trade is concerned that, instead of this vision, only technical measures are being considered that would only provide quick fixes in a single sector. Great attention is being focused on changes to U.S. trade law to improve access for apparel under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Act (HOPE) and Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBPTA). Although improvement of HOPE would serve as an immediate and technical stopgap measure, more comprehensive attention that goes well beyond access to textiles is necessary to propel Haiti into becoming a world-class competitive country.

A concerted effort in capacity-building is an absolute necessity for Haiti to take advantage of any proposed initiatives and to diversify its manufacturing base outside the apparel industry. Congress should enact a meaningful program with international support by the end of the year. The Strategy Memo does not state that the infrastructure fund is all that is needed for Haiti. A concerted approach is required involving education, health and governance as well as infrastructure. However, if infrastructure is not prioritized with separate funding, it is likely to be underfunded since there is much more public support for humanitarian concerns.

See full text here.