Above: the investment forum in Mexico (Photo: Embassy of Haiti in Mexico)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Seeking to attract new investment from the Mexican market, Haiti recently concluded its first-ever Haitian Investment Forum in Mexico at the Camino Real hotel in Mexico City.

The forum, which was part of what Haiti’s Embassy called “business diplomacy,” aimed to facilitate investment in Haiti.

It was jointly held by the Embassy of Haiti in Mexico, the Centre for Investment Facilitation, the Secretariat of Foreign Relations of Mexico and the COMCE (Mexican Business Council for Foreign Commerce).

The forum featured a presentation by Haiti’s CFI highlighting the benefits Haiti can offer to Mexican investors.

Haiti’s Ambassador to Mexico, Guy Lamothe, and the former director of the CFI, put particular emphasis on the areas of construction, tourism, agriculture and textile manufacturing.

He said Haiti would need 400,000 new homes over the next five years, and an additional 3,500 hotel rooms to accommodate tourists.

On the tourism front, Haiti and Mexico earlier this year signed an agreement focusing on tourism. It will be focused around the provision of Mexican experts to train Haiti’s tourism sector.

The two sides discussed several potential areas of collaboration, including the signing of a cooperation agreement, the organization of joint business missions in Haiti and the implementation of a workshop for operators in different fields like export and investment.