Haiti’s Martelly Creates Commission to Reform Business Laws

Above: Haiti President Michel Martelly

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti President Michel Martelly has installed a commission to reform the country’s business legislation.

The three-member team, which is comprised of Bernard Gousse, Jean-Frederic Sales and Nathalie Alcindor, will look to produce “reflections” on business law reforms.

Gousse was a one-time pick by Martelly for Prime Minister.

“How do we restore Haitian citizenship without decent, sustainable and well-paid jobs, without the possibility of expanding the middle class?” Martelly asked Friday. “How do we reduce the country’s vulnerability without increase productive investments that enhance the land and its resources?”

Martelly called Haiti’s commercial code the “oldest in the region,” one that was first published in 1826 and that has undergone one amendment in 1944.

“That means that it is completely unsuitable for the development needs of private investment and business,” he said. “[It is] a stranger to large scientific and technological revolutions that have marked recent decades.”

The call for new business legislation in Haiti was also made by Haitian-American investor Dr Jean Orelien in a recent Business of Haiti feature in Caribbean Journal.

“The era of globalization and the globalization of trade cannot be achieved without the participation of investors and foreign capital,” Martelly said Friday.

The President said the commission would work to “recast” the business legislation of Haiti to develop a framework more conducive to “massive capital investment,” both domestic and foreign.