Surtab and Handxom SA to build touchscreen Android tablets in Haiti

Haiti is changing the perceptions of the business world that has believed garment manufacturing is the only area Haitian workers are qualified to work in. But two tech startups are changing all of that, training Haitian workers to assemble Android tablets. Both Surtab and Handxoms SAs have begun producing seven-inch touch-screen tablets with Haitian workers on the assembly line, putting the devices together.

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Business has been brisk for both companies since they began production in November. Surtab has been marketing the tablets to education and planning ministries within the government, and Handxom had a run on their tablets, with 300 units sold in just a couple of weeks.

Surtab, started by CEO, Maarten Boute, and wealthy Haitian investors, was also the recipient of a Pan-American Development Fund $200,000 grant. It has hired 50 people, with 20 of them assembling the devices in a tightly controlled environment. The assemblers earn a maximum salary of $6.81 per shift, $2.27 above Haiti's minimum wage. A bonus incentive is also offered that can increase wages to over $13.00.

Handxom's CEO, Jimmy Jacques, evades the question of how much money they are paying assemblers, so you can be sure it is the minimum or less, not hard to get away with in Haiti, whose labor laws are not strictly enforced. But in order to seem like it is a company that is doing good, it is expecting to hire 400 people, depending on future sales and total market share.

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Read more: Technology, Android, Surtab, Tablet, Handxom, Technology

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