Above: Haiti (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti’s Parliament has ratified an Investment Incentive Agreement with the United States’ Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

The agreement, which was officially ratified last month during a special joint session of Parliament, “streamlines OPIC’s ability to support US companies’ investments that contribute to the economic development of the country,” OPIC said in a statement.

The agreement was first signed by the US in 1998. Since then, OPIC has conducted $76 million in business across six projects.

OPIC said the agreement would help pave the way for doubling that number to $150 million. It did not elaborate on the incentives that comprised the agreement.

“The ratification of the Investment Incentive Agreement ensures OPIC’s ability to work with US companies present in Haiti, as well as the Haitian Diaspora community and other US investors, to partner in projects that encourage economic development through the strengthening of Haiti’s physical and financial infrastructure while also creating opportunities for employment,” said OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield.

Most recently, OPIC launched a mortgage financing project that supports micro-lending for micro-mortgages and home repairs that targets low-income borrowers.

Littlefield oversaw the launch during a visit to Haiti in February.