PORT-AU-PRINCE – The Inter-American Development Bank will focus its support on priority sectors of Haitian President René Préval’s Apaisement Social plan, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno said here.
Moreno led an IDB team in talks with the Haitian president and his advisors on Monday. Préval, who began his second term as head of state in May, wants to speed up development projects in sectors with potential to generate jobs and improve living conditions in Haiti, including infrastructure, education and agriculture.
At Préval’s request, the IDB will place emphasis on projects to build or rehabilitate transportation infrastructure, specifically three highway stretches: Gonaïve to Port de Paix (93.3 kilometers) and the coastal routes from Miragoane to Jeremie (85 kilometers) and from Les Cayes to Jeremie (98 kilometers).
The IDB is also preparing new projects with Haiti, among them loans for expansion of drinking water services and basic sanitation in rural areas; rural production chains; rehabilitation of electric services infrastructure and roads; natural resources management in priority watersheds and a nutrition, health and early education program for infants and young children.
Moreno hailed Préval’s call to political parties, private sector and civil society to establish a governance and development pact to help Haiti gain political, economic and social stability and address its population’s pressing needs.
The IDB is carrying out a portfolio of loans totaling more than $500 million in Haiti, supporting projects in a variety of sectors. In basic infrastructure, it is financing work on 77 kilometers of primary roads, 156 kilometers of secondary roads and 140 kilometers of tertiary roads; the construction of seven bridges and the rehabilitation of drinking water and drainage systems.
Loans also finance programs in education, health, local development, job training, agriculture, urban development, flood prevention and reforms to strengthen and modernize its public sector. The IDB has adopted flexible rules and procedures in order to hasten project execution in Haiti.
Moreno added that the IDB will continue assisting the Haitian government in strengthening its institutional capacity to plan, design and implement economic and social development programs. This support is provided through investment projects, public sector reform programs and technical cooperation grants.
The IDB affiliates, the Inter-American Investment Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Fund, support private sector development in Haiti, focusing on microenterprises and small and medium-size businesses. The IDB expects to expand its support for Haitian businesses through its Private Sector Department, which specializes in large infrastructure projects and capital markets development.