HA-T1089 : Support to Private Sector Investment and Export Industry

The goal of the KCP is to support the government of Haiti to create an enabling environment for economic growth by attracting investment and increasing exports via targeted reforms and innovative use of technology. The specific objectives are to: 1.Improve the business environment to foster investment within Haiti; 2.Develop institutional capacity in investment attraction and implementation; and 3.Promote exports of Haitian goods via a pilot e-commerce platform. Haiti placed 151st out of 183 countries in the 2010 World Bank ¿Doing Business¿ Report (DBR). Particularly in the wake of the January earthquake, Haiti must make quick and targeted reforms to its regulatory system to signal to investors its commitment to improving the business climate and facilitating trade. Component 1 achieves this quickly and effectively through targeted administrative reforms to the business registration and construction permit processes that, holding all else constant, could together achieve a 27-place improvement in the ranking. Improvements to speed and cost will be enabled through synergy with the IDB-funded e-governance platform. Component 2 seeks to strengthen GOH institutional capacity in investment attraction and implementation, by providing it with expertise and training on the three critical steps in an international investment: negotiation between government and investors, design of a tender offer, and implementation at the administrative level. The component will entail training and leadership from experienced consultants in the negotiation of international commercial agreements, preparation of tender offers and conditions to award investment projects, and filing and follow up of all the governmental and administrative permits necessary to legalize investment projects. Component 3 uses technology to promote private sector development; in this case it is used to aggregate and increase buyer knowledge of available supply and reduce transaction costs to stimulate exports. Recent advances in cloud computing now enable e-commerce to achieve its potential to help small producers sell directly to businesses and individuals in the US and beyond. The component will entail launching a pilot e-commerce platform for networks of small producers, including training producer networks in the use of web 2.0 technologies and establishing systems for joint logistics and international payment systems.