Above: New Orleans

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti’s Tourism Ministry is planning to send a mission to New Orleans in the middle of this month, with the goal of enhancing cooperation between the two sides.

The mission should lead to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry and the city, which would develop a joint programme focusing on cultural tourism, heritage management and tourist police.

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu brought a delegation to Haiti last year for the launch of a new fund led by the government of Qatar, and the city has pledged to cooperate further with the $12 million Qatar Haiti Fund.

New Orleans is also helping to build capacity in the office of Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe as part of the programme.

The ties between Haiti and New Orleans go back for centuries; indeed, much of the architecture in the city was derived from building practices in Haiti more than 200 years ago.