caricom - Haiti Observer Blog

Charles Antoine Forbin, the Consul General of Republic of Haiti, will be chairing Consular Corps of New York's deliberations from 27th March, 2013 to 30th June, 2013 while Michel Martelly, President of Haiti, will ensure that CARICOM's (Community and Common Market) presidency keeps rotating. President Martelly has been ensuring this rotation since January 1, 2013 and will continue to do so until July 31, 2013. The deliberations of Consular Corps of New York, to be chaired by Charles Antonie Forbin, comprises of members of 12 participating countries.

The Consular Corps of New York will meet at Consulate General of the Republic of Haiti in New York's premises and will allow Haiti to get back into the position of a negotiator. In this forum provided by the CARICOM allows questions to be raised and issues to be discussed on Caribbean region's social, political and economic interests and Haiti will be in a position to air its voice. It will be a great opportunity for Haiti to speak about her problems and she can also provide suggestions for the betterment of the overall Caribbean region.

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This is a picture of the dignitaries from all over the Caribbean as well as the US who were present in Haiti at the Intersessional Meeting of the 24th Summit of Heads of State and Government of CARICOM.

For the first time in the hisatory of the CARICOM, a President of Haiti is Chairman. Also for the first time, the country of Haiti was hosting the Meeting of the Heads of Government.

The agenda of the 24th Summit of Heads of State and Government of CARICOM was focused on 16 point including Strengthening the Regional Crime and Security Architecture and Agenda, Reform In CARICOM; Report on Financial Stability of the region; the British American Insurance Company, Update on the Resolution of the Obligations resulting from the financial Collapse, transportation within the Caribbean countries, Matters related to sport, specifically Cricket and Possibilities and Introduction of interpretation and Translation Services for CARICOM.

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This is a picture worth sharing with you which was first noticed by touthaiti.com. Haiti was the host for the 24th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which will be held on February 18 and 19, 2013.

This picture you are looking at was a banner placed along the road Bourdon on the way to Pétion-Ville. This banner in which the Haitian President personally welcomes the CARICOM members to Haiti.

In my opinion, this is a classic case of propaganda on the part of this government. We have seen it in many other situations where the credit is giving personally to the president.

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Haiti has achieved a first in the history of the Caribbean Community's Conference of Heads of Government (CARICOM), appointed to the Chairmanship of the regional body. Haiti President Martelly took the reins of leadership on January 1, 2013. The event was supposed to happen in 2010, before Haiti's earthquake smashed the island to smithereens. Then-President Rene Preval ceded the chairmanship to Jamaica.

Throughout his presidency, Martelly has raised concerns about Haiti's integration within CARICOM's governing body. He wants French to become a certified language, claiming over half of CARICOM's members speak French or Créole. He also intends to make certain Haiti, as a member-nation of CARICOM, reaps the fruits of its membership.

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The Government of Haiti (GOH), in an ongoing effort to increase tourism, is submitting a competitive bid to play host for the CARIFESTA annual arts and music fair in 2015, announced President Martelly's office.

This announcement comes on the heels of President Martelly's attendance at the CARICOM Summit in St. Lucia, and signing of a Memorandum of Intention, agreed to by the GOH and CARICOM. Contained in the memorandum are commitments between the partners for the re-development of Haiti, the renewal of agriculture production, and the simplification of procuring private investments.

At the Summit working sessions, President Martelly laid out his government's objectives and the projected outcomes of the GOH's intention to present Haiti in a more positive light on the global stage, conditioned by an improved quality of life standard and sustained economic growth.

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Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer the prime minister of the country attended the annual general meeting of the heads of state of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) which opened on Wednesday at St. Lucia. It was during this time that he reaffirmed his intentions to offer scholarships to some Haitian students in a bid to counter attack the recent misfortunes that have visited the country since 2010.

In 2010 the country suffered a massive earth quake attack that let the country in a state of poverty and beyond reconstruction. However, with the many undying hearts in the country, most of the structures have been replace or renovated to what they were initially while some are actually better than they were before. There however is still the issue of the many hard hit families and unfortunate children who were left by their parents during the disaster.

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The Martelly-Lamothe administration of Haiti have recently been meeting and trying to collaborate with other countries, especially with its neighbors for mutual economic development and international cooperation. In addition, Haiti has been participating and joining in different international organizations such as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) where the country is an active full member.

To expand Haiti's international relations, the government has been in negotiation with the Dominican Republic for a Free Trade Agreement. This aims to promote regional development through open trade of goods and services between the two nations. With the DR's newly-elected President Danilo Medina, it appears that this agreement is a great probability.

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Caribbean Festival of Arts commonly referred to as carifesta is one of the oldest festivals held by Caribbean countries periodically with the sole motive of ensuring that everyone in the region is able to easily understand and follow on the nations` folkloric and cultural practices. It has been an event organized by these nations periodically this time being planned to be held in Haiti. This is according to the president of the country President Michel Martelly who attended this week's CARICOM Summit in St Lucia, and was on hand for the signing of a Memorandum between CARICOM and Haiti for institution building, the revival of agriculture and investment facilitation.

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Haiti President Martelly is pursuing support from CARICOM to re-build Haiti's infrastructure. And he is also seeking job opportunities in vocational careers for students unable to afford a university education.

Responding, Antiguan Prime Minister Spencer has offered scholarships for its Hospitality Training Institute (HTI) for students interested in the hospitality industry. To make an official declaration of the scholarship program, HTI and the Haiti Ministry of Tourism will put their signatures to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Spencer indicated Antigua has a policy of offering scholarships to Caribbean countries afflicted by
natural disasters.

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