Free-Trade Zones Encourage Private Investment

Free-trade zones are set up at major transportation hubs such airports, seaports, and international borders. They cover the globe in major developed nations and minor emerging ones. Within the Caribbean region, they operate in Jamaica at the Port Authority and in Kingston and Montego Bay.

Haiti harbors several free-trade zones within its borders. One of the most promising is located in north Haiti in the town of Ouanaminthe, where textiles are manufactured. A newly-completed industrial park, Caracol, is close by. A $224 million US.-financed project, it has already begun textile manufacturing, with South Korean clothing manufacturer, Sae-A Trading Company, one of the first tenants to occupy a site. Paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams has also moved in, and is exporting its product, along with the domestic paint manufacturer, Penintures.

A drawback to all this burgeoning activity is the daunting compliance regulations Haitian companies must endure. In Ouanaminthe, no one knows for certain if any Haitian manufacturing companies will get the same tax exemptions as foreign companies doing business there. Foreign corporate exports are tax exempt and a source of cheap labor. Haiti is open for business, but to whose benefit?

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