Haiti to Receive $131 Million in Reconstruction Help from EU
Above: Haitian President Michel Martelly and EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs (Photo: OP)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Haitian President Michel Martelly, accompanied by Prime Minister-Designate Laurent Lamothe, signed a strategic document and two financing agreements with the European Union in a ceremony in Port-au-Prince.
Martelly said he welcomed the agreements, which came within the scope of consolidating cooperation between Haiti and the EU.
As part of the arrangement, the European Union will provide Haiti with $131 million in reconstruction support.
Of the $131 million total, $24.5 million is to be used for bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, the environment and local development across borders.
The “strategic document” sets forth cooperation priorities for the two parties through 2013.
The two financing agreements also impact bilateral cooperation between the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
The Dominican Republic and Haiti’s border regions are also receiving help from the EU, a move announced yesterday by Piebalgs after a meeting in the Dominican Republic.