Plan approved to help restart Haitian businesses

A man walks past mountains of rubble in downtown Port-au-Prince, left behind by Haiti's powerful earthquake. (Photo: UN Photo/Marco Dormino)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 11, 2010 – A US$35 million emergency investment programme has been approved for Haiti to help private companies restart operations and preserve and create jobs, in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck the country in January. 

The plan got the nod of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.

“IFC’s emergency programme aims to help rebuild Haiti’s private sector companies and to support their role in the recovery process by creating or saving thousands of jobs,” said IFC’s CEO and Executive Vice President Lars Thunell. “Support for the private sector is needed so that companies can rebuild infrastructure, provide goods and services, and provide financing for small businesses.” 

The initiative will finance six companies in key sectors, including manufacturing, infrastructure, agribusiness and financial services. 

With a focus on creating jobs, IFC said its programme aims to help these companies get back to business, preserve their employees’ livelihoods, and reestablish critical supplies and services to their communities. Support for each company is capped at US$10 million. 

IFC is also responding through its advisory services programme to help companies and government agencies expand Haiti’s special economic zones and improve regulations to retain and attract investors. 

The corporation said the emergency programme is a first step in its support for Haiti and will be followed by additional investments for long-term financing in infrastructure and other key sectors, as well as an expansion of IFC advisory services. 

The IFC investment programme is, no doubt, good news for Haitian President René Préval who indicated earlier this week that he wanted the international community to now focus their efforts on providing jobs for people in the quake-hit country.