Above: Haiti President Michel Martelly (Photo: OP Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti President and CARICOM Chairman Michel Martelly will launch the Caribbean Regional Aid for Trade Strategy in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday.

The “Aid For Trade” strategy involves the flow of development finance from developed countries and multilateral lenders to developing countries.

It was developed with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank, aiming to create “consensus within CARICOM on priorities for ensuring growth and a more diversified regional economy,” according to a CARICOM statement.

The regional body said the strategy would present a “coherent approach to obtaining funding, and provides a framework for collaboration among CARICOM member states and international development partners or investors with an interest in providing support for the region’s development.”

CARICOM is launching the AFT with collaboration from the IDB, the International Trade Centre, the WTO and the Caribbean Export Development Agency.

Martelly will deliver a keynote address on Tuesday, followed by CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque and Wilson Laleau, Haiti’s Minister of Trade and Industry.