Above: Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe addresses the group

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti and the Dominican Republic continued their monthly high-level bilateral talks on Thursday at the newly-expanded Kinam Hotel in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Petion-Ville.

Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe led the Haitian commission, joined by a Dominican delegation headed by Foreign Affairs Minister Andres Navarro, who was representing Dominican Minister of the Presidency in that role.

Opening the talks on Thursday, Lamothe called for a “constructive dialogue” that could contribute to the “development of both nations.”

He said the private sectors of both countries, which he said were the engines of Hispaniola’s economy, must address the issues faced by people on both sides of the island — a group which also represents a market of 22 million consumers.

Navarro, for his part, focused on the harmonization of tariffs, as a “way to reach more fluidity.”

In a recent interview with Caribbean Journal, Lamothe said the monthly talks had resulted in a relationship that was “based on respect.”

“That’s what we have for one another now,” he said of the often-stormy ties between the island neighbours. “And we feel that things are moving forward.”

https://www.caribjournal.com2014/09/27/haiti-prime-minister-laurent-lamothe-on-the-new-haiti/