With the passage of the law HELP (Haiti Economic Lift Program) in the U.S. Congress, the companies of the textile industry have expressed their interest to Haiti, for benefit of an access to the U.S. market. The passage of this Law in May 2010 has increased significantly the attractiveness of Haiti through its preferential tariff on textile products, for assembly operations at large scale, as Sae-A.

Textile assembly plants operating in Haiti have allowed to create 4,000 new jobs since January 12, 2010. Not only by restoring jobs lost after the earthquake, but also by employing more workers than before the disaster.

Large companies have presented aggressive investment plans to grow and draw benefits from these extended trade preferences. The agreement signed between the SAE E-Trading co. the government of Haiti, the U.S. government and the IDB, will develop an industrial park of over 250 hectares in the north.

The Korean Sae-A company has manufacturing facilities throughout the world, including Latin America and South East Asia and has recently taken the decision to invest in Haiti to increased its production capacity. This is the North Industrial Park which will host the project. "Our investment in Haiti would become one of our largest operations worldwide and we plan to employ 20,000 people at term" said W.K.Kim, President of SAE-A.

Sae-A will invest $78 million in equipment and production facilities in Haiti, including several units of sewing, embroidery, printing and cleaning, and a mesh manufacturing unit and a laundromat. This will allow for the first time in Haiti to assemble goods made from fabric "made in Haiti". The Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) facilitated and approved the conclusion of this project, the first major public-private partnership.

This investment project is based on substantial competitive advantages: - preferential tariff, production time, motivated human resources, ease of supply, infrastructure and various supports and advantages that will make this undertaking a success. Park operations and production activities should begin in the first quarter of 2012.
The investment of the industrial park of North will also allow:

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• The development of almost 12,000 homes in surrounding communities
• Induce the creation of a modern port for the northern region
• The rehabilitation of road network that will benefit to the park as well as other industries like tourism and agriculture.
• FProvide electricity beyond the park facilities, to the surrounding communities
• Create, in addition of the 20,000 jobs of Sae-A, a minimum of 15,000 jobs from the construction of the park, through micro-enterprises, small farms, shops for food and financial services.

Article by S/ HaitiLibre