On June 12-13 PPAF and SImACT held their Jacmel Workshop “Reconstruction and Business Opportunities in Southern Haiti” at the Cap Lamandou Hotel.  This took place at a time of great crisis but also great opportunity. “Refondation”  will take many years and billions of dollars.  Yet the cry is to “build back better,” and investment, commerce and business have central importance in this.  

Some Jacmel participants

Seventy potential investors and contractors, the mayor and the president of the local chamber of commerce of Jacmel and other notables participated.  Conference materials with details on participating companies and organizations will soon be available on the PPAF website.   Photos can be viewed here.   

The Minister of Tourism (and reconstruction) Patrick Delatour gave the keynote address and an extensive powerpoint presentation.  He encouraged revitalization of the historic areas of Jacmel and other sites and their potential for becoming an economic engine for rebuilding and tourism.  He stressed the themes of revitalization of infrastructure, decentralization from Port-au-Prince, job creation, income generation and rebuilding Haitian pride.   

(l to r) Roland Zenny, Pres. Jacmel Chamber of Commerce; Edwin Zenny, Mayor of Jacmel; Patrick Delatour, Minister of Tourism

Photo: Frizner Nau 

Our workshop built on a just-completed conference of 600 participants that was organized by the American Chambers of Commerce of the Dominican Republic and of Haiti and the US Commercial Service. About 50 AmCham conference participants left at 6 a.m, Saturday and traveled by bus for a weekend in Jacmel. joined by others already residing in Haiti.  There we had practical discussions and site visits that focused on several priorities for Southern Haiti – seaport and airport infrastructure; the “soft house” and other transitional housing; agriculture and fishing; cooking without charcoal; Jacmel’s historic district, the arts and promotion of tourism; and the planned multipurpose community at Belle Rive.

Participants were struck by the magnitude of damage but also the possibilities for revitalization.  The resilience of the population, the hospitality and competence of the hotel, the vision and compassion of business people, the vitality of a nearby art foundation for homeless children, all contributed to a sense that serious efforts were merited and will bear fruit.   The Globe and Mail (Toronto), Al Jazeera TV and the Haitian magazine Rebelle Haiti as well as local Jacmelian press covered the event. 

Representatives of a dozen organizations discussed prospects for manufacture of ethanol stoves in Haiti and provision of fuel on a commercial basis, leading to planning and tentative agreements among Project Gaia, SImACT, Dometic, Inc., PPAF, the Haitian-American Association of Engineers and Scientists and others.   Representatives of the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children also participated in these discussions.  Since the Jacmel Workshop, Project Gaia has announced that 1,440 donated stoves are about to be shipped and that the Brazilian government will make available donated fuel to start pilot efforts.    

Similarly, guarantors and potential providers of funds for the Belle Rive site were impressed by SImACT’s planning and initial investments, the excellence of the site, and the potential in three markets — Haitian diaspora, decentralization from Port-au-Prince and development managers. 

The motto of SImACT is “To provide means to achieve, opportunities to live and reasons to dream.”  Strong steps were taken toward these goals at the Jacmel Workshop.

An article on the workshop, “Jacmel Woos Foreign Investors to Rebuild Shattered Resorts.” appears in the Globe and Mail (Toronto), written by Jessica Leeder, who writes “Project Jacmel,” an ongoing series.