Haiti an Agenda for Etats Generaux in Haiti Third Roundtable of the Willson House Process May 2011 Event

8/3/2019 Haiti an Agenda for Etats Generaux in Haiti Third Roundtable of the Willson House Process May 2011 Event

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Executive SummaryIn May 2011, leaders o the principal private enterprises and private sector associations o

Haiti and international donors convened in Washington, D.C. or a roundtable meeting on the

role o the Haitian private sector in the development o Haiti. The objective o the meeting

was to ocus on actions to enable and improve eective co-operation between the private

sector, the new government o Haiti and international donors to promote growth, goodgovernance and development. In addition to broad areas o public and private governance

and economic growth, participants discussed Haitian manuacturing, agriculture, technology,

tourism and improvements in economic competitiveness.

The roundtable reviewed the history o public-private dialogue (PPD) in Haiti to help lay

the basis or a new dialogue model that can produce eective, sustained and ecient

collaboration. The roundtable also articulated a coherent and orceul declaration by the

private sector o its role and responsibility toward the countrys development, drawing a clear

distinction between modern progressive elements o the private sector and those wedded

to the past. Finally, the roundtable marked the progression o the Haitian private sector rom

active participant to leader o the Willson House process. The Willson House process is a series

o dialogues between leaders o the Haitian private sector and the international community

named ater the venue o the rst such dialogue, convened at Meech Lake, Quebec, and

chaired by ormer Canadian prime minister the Rt Hon. Joe Clark and ormer president o

the Inter-American Development Bank Enrique Iglesias. The agenda, list o participants, and

discussions at the third roundtable in this process were chosen and developed by members

o the Haitian private sector, and the uture direction o the process now rests rmly in their

hands.

Agenda or an tats gnrauxin Haiti:

Third Roundtable o the Willson House Process

Event ReportAugust 20

Washington, D.C. May 16-17, 2011

FOCAL PROJECT REPORT: Haiti and the Private Sector


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Highlights The ollowing are key ideas that emerged rom the discussions and preparatory work or

the meeting done by the Haitian private sector. They are intended to inorm and guide the

development o an tats gnrauxto be held in Haiti in the summer o 2011.

1) Pacte dengagementPublic-Private Dialogue (PPD) was highlighted as an essential mechanism or building and

acting upon a shared vision or economic growth in Haiti. Participants agreed that a rst

priority or the new government should be institutionalizing, in partnership with the private

sector, an inclusive, transparent and accountable PPD process, built upon past experience in

Haiti, to create eciency, legitimacy and continuity o dialogue.

2) Nouveau consensus social pour une rvolution de croissanceHaiti must create a Revolution o Growth or All. Participants asserted that the old business

model o crony capitalism and rent-seeking behaviour that beneted a privileged minority

was unsustainable and dangerous or the private sector and the country. The only way Haitican move orward is by strengthening democracy, rule o law, good governance and open

markets to ensure economic growth that brings opportunities and benets or all Haitians.

3) Business opportunities The Revolution o Growth or All must ensure opportunities or Haitian businesses o all

sizes, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and those in the inormal sector.

It is a strategic priority or Haiti to enlarge the middle class and to support the transition

o entrepreneurs rom the inormal sector to the ormal economy. This will increase the

size o the tax base, thereby growing government revenue while expanding economic

opportunities to more Haitians.

4) Clarity on land ownershipLack o clarity on land ownership and the absence o a national cadastre is one o the most

signicant challenges to unlocking access to capital, which is a necessary precondition

or launching a Revolution o Growth or All, modernizing key sectors o the economy,

and recovering rom the 2010 earthquake. As well as prioritizing the creation o a national

cadastre, land title and ownership systems could also be acilitated by reducing land

transaction taxes, launching eorts to distinguish titles and tenures, and creating a title

insurance program.

5) Private investment and public support for agricultureHaitis agricultural sector is well placed to help reduce poverty by increasing productivity

and job creation with relatively limited investments in inrastructure, training, and processing

acilities. Improvements in agriculture may not be the astest way to grow the overall Haitian

economy, but it can contribute signicantly to a stronger, more broad-based, and more

diversied Haitian economy. In addition, inrastructure investments in roads and ports to

urther open the market or Haitis armers can also improve access to the countrys regions

The only way Haitican move forwardis by strengtheningdemocracy, rule of

law, good governanceand open markets

to ensure economicgrowth that bringsopportunities and

benefits for allHaitians.


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or tourism development. These potential synergies could help improve spending strategies

i priority is given to those projects that have a double use in tourism and agriculture, or

agriculture and trade, or example.

6) Decentralization of private investment and public servicesGrowth could be stimulated outside Port-au-Prince through decentralization o private

investment and public services. The majority o public servants, banks and businesses are

concentrated in the capital region. A healthy, diverse and regionally integrated economy

requires the private sector, donors and the government to make major investments outside

the capital region. This process can be acilitated through key inrastructure investments,

steps to improve access to capital or SMEs, and the growth and ormalization o micro-

enterprises.

7) Modernization of the alliance between the Haitian private sectorand the state

The Haitian state and the private sector must modernize and uniy. Haiti is aced with ouroptions to conront the current and ongoing crisis in Haiti: a return to the authoritarian

past; a continuation o the present state o political and economic dysunction and crisis;

a return to anti-market populism; or the evolution o both the state and the private sector

toward transparency, accountability and eectiveness. For the private sector, the latter

requires a commitment to ulll all o its social, legal and moral responsibilities. For the state,

this requires a move toward openness, responsiveness and serious commitment to ollow

through on the tasks taken up. For both sectors, this evolution demands a commitment to

serious dialogue, enhanced co-operation and the provision o the necessary resources to

sustain the process over an extended period.

Background

In 2005, ormer Canadian prime minister Joe Clark and then-president o the Inter-American

Development Bank (IDB), Enrique Iglesias, met at the Willson House at Meech Lake, Quebec

or the rst o a series o open discussions involving representatives o the Haitian private

sector and international donors. The goal o these roundtables has been to nd ways

to leverage the talents and resources o the private sector in Haiti to make signicant

contributions to the broad economic and governance issues acing the country. The

roundtables have served as critical orums or inormation sharing, condence building andintroduction onto the international stage o a progressive and modern Haitian private sector.

This series o roundtables has come to be known as the Willson House process.

The rst roundtable introduced the Haitian private sector as a development actor to the

international donor community. Discussions at the rst roundtable ocused on the recent

history o private sector engagement and began to lay the oundation or how a modern

and progressive private sector could evolve and assist in the development o the country.

A healthy, diverse anregionally integrateeconomy requires thprivate sector, donoand the governmen

to make majorinvestments outsidthe capital region.


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The rst roundtable articulated themes that have grown in importance and visibility such as

the need or mutual responsibility and accountability among the private sector, government

and other societal actors. At the meeting, the private sector started to articulate a plan or

equitable and inclusive growth in Haiti: a Revolution o Growth or All.

The second roundtable in 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia ocused on the reorm o the education

sector in Haiti. In addition to many participants rom the rst Willson House meeting,

education experts rom Haiti and other countries in the Americas joined, including the

Deputy Mayor o New York City in charge o education. Emerging rom this meeting, the

Partnership or Educational Revitalization in the Americas (PREAL) at the Inter-American

Dialogue commissioned a detailed study on education reorm in Haiti, Education in Haiti: The

Way Forward. The issues, ndings and recommendations o this report provided in large part

the basis or post-earthquake education reorm in Haiti.

Since 2009, the Haitian private sector has played a more active and constructive role in

public lie in Haiti by producing comprehensive and well-developed strategies or economicgrowth and management o the economy. Public polling by the private sector around the

2010-2011 elections played a critical role in ensuring that the outcomes were democratic

and refected the will o the people.

The third roundtable, originally scheduled to be held in the margins o the IDB annual

meeting in Calgary, Alberta in April 2011, was moved into May to ollow the Haitian

presidential election.

Third Roundtable o the Willson House ProcessThe third roundtable between the Haitian private sector and the international community took

place May 16-17, 2011 at the oces o the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington D.C. It brought

together 19 leaders o the Haitian private sector, members o the international donor community

and a representative o newly elected President Michel Martelly. Presentations by members o the

Haitian private sector initiated each session and helped guide the discussions about initiatives

that both the public and private sectors can take to improve co-operation and to contribute to

Haitis economic growth.

The Haitian private sector had decided that the Washington meeting was to be a startingpoint or an tats gnraux-type event to bring together the private sector and the Haitian

government in the summer o 2011. A principal goal o the planned tats gnrauxwould be

to produce a blueprint or a sustained orum and mechanism or PPD in Haiti. The meeting

in Washington was also intended to provide the new Haitian government with proposals

rom the private sector on how to organize PPD, to describe what would be needed rom

both parties to achieve this, and to arm the intention o the private sector to support a

new Pacte dengagement.

Since 2009, the

Haitian privatesector has playeda more active andconstructive rolein public life in

Haiti by producingcomprehensive and

well-developedstrategies for

economic growth andmanagement of the

economy.


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The present report summarizes key discussions at the roundtable, including the process o

building consensus within the private sector, highlights rom the presidential commissions

organized by ormer president Ren Prval, a review o historical eorts at building PPD in

Haiti, and some key ideas or moving orward with a new institutional PPD process. This

meeting was held under Chatham House rules to ensure open discussions; thereore, this

report does not attribute remarks or opinions to specic participants or identiy them by

name or organization.

A unifed and inclusive private sector

Until recently, divisions within the private sector impeded its ability to lead economic

growth and co-operate with other sectors o Haitian society. These divisions were described

as a struggle o modern versus crony capitalism: change-oriented versus status quo; tax-

paying versus tax-evading; transparency and anti-corruption versus corruption and opacity ;

pro-market versus pro-deal; and pro-democracy versus authoritarian.

Until 2009, the private sector was characterized by disunity and was represented by a

constellation o over 30 organizations. Low levels o co-operation within the private sector

made it very dicult to establish a unied voice. Also, major nancial and economic players

did not participate in these associations, making them weaker organizations. This weakness

and disunity made it dicult or the private sector to take the lead in building a continuous

and institutionalized dialogue between the public and private sectors. This resulted in

limited private sector participation in the ormation o public policies.

Various attempts at organizing the private sector had limited success until August 2008when, ater our years o negotiation, the regional chambers o commerce re-organized

and were ederated, creating the National Chamber o Commerce and Industry (Chambre

de Commerce et dIndustrie dHati, CCIH). This included the establishment and inclusion

o the Federation o Small and Medium Enterprises as a ull member. In 2009, under

the leadership o the CCIH, the Private Sectors Economic Forum (Forum conomique du

secteur priv, FESP) was created to promote investment or economic growth and job

creation, and to become the ocal point or the private sector when dealing with the

government and the international community. The guiding principles o the FESP are: (1)

decentralization and equal growth; (2) commitment to modernization; (3) leadership and

mutual accountability; (4) Haitian-led recovery and construction; (5) independence rominternational aid.

In addition to the targeted involvement o SMEs as part o an expanded and modernized

private sector, emale participation in the ormal sector will also have to be increased.

In several regions in Haiti, women are the most numerous and productive elements o

the inormal private sector. Any program o ormalization would have to target emale

entrepreneurs.

In several regions inHaiti, women are thmost numerous andproductive element

of the informalprivate sector.


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An economic vision or the country The meeting eatured a presentation titled The Haitian Private Sector and a New Social

Consensus or a Revolution o Growth ollowed by a discussion o the relationships between

Haitis political and economic elites, the international community, and Haitis citizens.

Haiti is now aced with our options or its uture:

Business as usual: Low growth, dependency on oreign aid and oreign peacekeepers,

growing popular rustration and international disillusionment;

Good old days: Anti-modern private sector and authoritarian political allies;

Populism: Anti-market, chaotic, infationary, strong anti-democratic elements;

A Revolution o Growth or All: Based on democracy, the rule o law, morality, civic

responsibility, good governance, greater private investment and expanded opportunities

or all.

Figure 1:

The Haitian Private Sector

CCIHChambres dpartementales: Artibonite, Centre,

GrandAnse, Nippes, Nord, Nord-Est, Nord-Ouest,

Ouest, Sud, Sud-Est

ADTH

AMARH

AMCHAM

CCIHC

CHAAB

CFHCI

APB

ASAAH

ATH

Private Sector Economic Forum


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Haiti cannot go back to a closed economy or a closed political system. Recovering rom the

earthquake requires a growth revolution involving the active participation o Haitis people,

a commitment to air engagement rom the international community, the participation o

the modern private sector, and the support o political elites. Maintaining the engagement

o these actors will be important or ensuring that strategies or growth and job creation

retain support over an extended period. The idea that economic growth must take place

while including a social dimension and awareness o potential inequalities was ramed as

a Nouveau consensus social pour une rvolution de croissance built on common goals

and co-operation rather than on divisive sel-interest. As part o its ocus on the new growth

revolution, private sector representatives spoke o their commitment to good corporate

governance, ull tax compliance, corporate social responsibility and support or democratic

governance.

In return, the Haitian government must live up to its commitments to hold ree and air

elections, apply the rule o law consistently and equally, support market principles and ree

enterprise, and enter into partnership with the private sector based on transparency andaccountability. In support o these commitments, political elites and the Haitian government

must move with urgency to modernize the public sector, increase transparency and

eectiveness, and combat corruption.

Haitian private sector leaders have repeatedly stated a desire to build relationships with

the international community and begin a dialogue with leading NGOs. Improving this

relationship will require that international actors move away rom the concept o an NGO

Republic and accept a strong, perorming Haitian state at the centre o national lie. The

international community must recognize the modern progressive Haitian private sector

as a responsible and essential partner in the development o the country. Old negativeperceptions about Haitian elites must be conned to those elements o the private sector

that have not modernized and have not concretely demonstrated their commitment by

taking an active and sustained role in ostering the shared priorities o openness, inclusion

and growth.

Haitians must be the leaders o investment and job creation, with international actors

playing a key supportive role. While oreign direct investment (FDI) is oten heralded as

essential to Haitian development, Haitis lack o competitiveness means that FDI is not yet

a prime stimulator o job creation. FDI plays a role in unding partnerships at the top o the

ood chain, but domestic entrepreneurship is essential or creating opportunities or theSMEs and inormal businesses that orm the bulk o the economy. Domestic investment,

together with migrant remittances and donor aid, has kept the economy unctioning during

the worst political trouble, yet it has been undeservedly downplayed by the international

community. It is important that the domestic private sector not be crowded out by NGOs

and oreign charity organizations that provide basic services but in so doing impede the

development o Haitian enterprises most oten small enterprises that can provide the

same services.


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A nation o opportunities: Priority sectors ordevelopment

The Washington meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the actions and plans o

the presidential commissions created by ormer president Prval that brought together

government and private sector leaders to work on strategies or breaking Haitis survival

cycle.

The presidential commissions The Commission on Competitiveness was given a mandate to propose a plan or Haitis

recovery. This strategic plan, published in August 2010, described a vision or long-term

competitiveness and highlighted opportunities or rapid improvements in the investment

climate, or quick wins. The plan described how Haiti could take advantage o the

opportunities arising rom crisis recovery to create up to one million jobs in ve years.

The goals highlighted by the Commission on Competitiveness are: to create jobs, emphasize

decentralization, support SMEs, work with housing and urban development, and create an

eective PPD mechanism. This strategic plan sketches ve priority clusters (cultivation o

ruits and tubers, animal husbandry, tourism, housing and urban development, and garments

and industry) to upgrade Haitis economy, and ve cross-cutting clusters (construction

and inrastructure, nance, inormation and communication technology (ICT), education

and training, and a business-enabling environment) to support the growth o the priority

clusters.

Enhancing competitiveness should not be simply about accumulating capital but shouldocus on improving productivity. For that reason, the private sector needs to take the lead in

making national investment decisions about where and what to produce. Competitiveness

partnership initiatives should be built to involve: (1) public-public actions such as regulatory

improvements, which are the responsibility o the public sector; (2) public-private actions,

such as public-private partnerships and joint investments; and (3) private-private actions,

which are joint eorts involving dierent members o the private sector.

Two o the priority clusters o the commission involved agriculture, the largest employment

sector in Haiti. Haitis agricultural production has decreased signicantly in recent years as

productivity has lagged while ood imports have increased dramatically, now accountingor more than 60 per cent o ood consumed in Haiti. There is a pressing need to get rural

areas engaged as economic contributors through new business investment, improved

access to rural credit, and improvements in access to health and education. Improvements

in agriculture and rural incomes can support essential structural, long-term reductions

in poverty and inequality. Rather than being perceived as a social activity whose primary

benet is to slow urbanization, agriculture should be viewed as a business with both risks

and potential. While not everyone with a ew seeds can build a competitive business, there

There is a pressingneed to get rural areas

engaged as economiccontributors through

new businessinvestment, improvedaccess to rural credit,and improvements inaccess to health and

education.


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must be a way to support small independent armers while also investing in transportation

inrastructure and a more ecient and integrated chain or supply, collection and export.

Haitis tourism sector can also benet rom investments in roads, ports and airports

targeted at the agricultural sector, creating synergies between agro-industrial and tourism

development. Haiti has enormous potential or tourism with large under-explored regions

that have a lot to oer including untouched nature, pristine beaches and amous historic

sites. Haiti has designed a comprehensive plan to develop tourism, but the plan has never

been implemented. Nevertheless, ater the earthquake, there is a consensus that tourism is

one o the pillars or uture development.

The ICT cross-cutting cluster is an important tool to enhance competitiveness because it

can increase private sector investments in Haiti and modernize public enterprises. ICT can

enhance the eciency o other sectors and can also create jobs outside and within the

sector. The Haitian government will at some point have to improve on ICTs, most notably in

adopting a modern regulatory ramework.

Garment manuacturing and light industry were also highlighted as a key cluster or

economic development. The HOPE, HOPE II and HELP acts were passed by the U.S. Congress

to provide duty-ree entry to the United States or clothing products manuactured in Haiti.

Ater HOPE was enacted in 2006, ormer president Prval created the Tripartite Presidential

Commission (CTMO-HOPE) to take advantage o the new legislation. The number o people

employed in the garment sector increased rom less than 10,000 in 2006 to close to 30,000 in

2009, partly due to the success o this Haitian-American deal. There is signicant opportunity

or tens o thousands o new jobs in this sector in the coming years, as highlighted by

recent massive investments in the North Industrial Park. To capitalize on this opportunity,Haiti needs to improve its manuacturing quality standards. Because there are many actors

involved in the sector, co-operation among private, public and international actors will be

particularly important.

Informality, land ownership and titlesIssues surrounding land ownership and titles are a problem o national concern, as they

aect the potential success and growth o the priority and cross-cutting clusters. The ormal

private sector has presented various proposals to address this issue, but these have not been

taken up by any government, and the issue has never been seriously addressed.

Diculties with land titles and subsequent problems with mortgages, insurance and

collaterals are some o the primary reasons why oreign investment in Haiti is so limited. The

government could begin to address the issue by making a distinction between titles and

tenures on a sector-by-sector basis, starting with agriculture. Whichever approach to the

problem is tried must be accompanied by the building o a national cadastre, along with

sucient legislation to support it. A successul intermediate system was put in place in Port-

au-Prince ater the earthquake by building a detailed database o land ownership based on


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wide community recognition o such ownership. This could represent a good model or the

solution to the title problems.

Corollary improvements that should take place alongside the creation o the cadastre include

the elimination o high ees to register a mortgage which are an obstacle or people to buy

homes and the development o a title insurance program with private sector participation

to promote nancing or housing.

A new public-private dialogue

The conerence reviewed past attempts at PPD in Haiti and discussed ideas or the

development o a new PPD process.

The key objective o PPD is to establish a partnership between the private and public

sectors to build economic growth in Haiti. PPD can help identiy and address roadblocks orinvestors while ensuring a level playing eld. It can also provide a platorm or the private

sector to push or broad government accountability. Over the past 18 months, private sector

representatives have done a signicant amount o preparatory work to determine priorities

and to make itsel an eective partner in any potential mechanism. However, the decision

on what mechanisms to develop will require urther analysis and must be taken together

with the government with input rom society more broadly.

The work done by the membership o FESP or the May 2011 Washington, D.C. meeting

included an analysis o past PPD initiatives in the country. Beginning with the end o the

Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, ormal PPD eorts went through multiple cycles o renewaland decay as the country suered through repeated bouts o political turmoil. Two distinct

types o mechanisms have been implemented at dierent times. First, joint public-private

councils have been created with mandates to improve the investment climate and/or

encourage economic reorm and modernization. The presidential commissions established

by ormer president Prval between 2007 and 2008 all into this category. Second, public

bodies have been established with the involvement o private sector representatives on the

boards o directors with the objective to promote investment and/or exports. The ormer

Haitian Bureau o Investment Promotion (BHPI) and todays Centre or Investment Facilitation

(CFI) all into this category.

These institutions have generally operated with limited scope, had variable success in

achieving their objectives and have been ineective at institutionalizing co-operative

dialogue. PPD eorts have been largely driven by the private sector, but eorts have been

erratic due to diculties in building political stability based on the rule o law and democratic

principles. Whenever the democratic environment was weakened, so was PPD. The two

weakest periods in PPD eorts occurred during times o contested government legitimacy

(1988-1994 and 2000-2006). The most promising period prior to today began in 1994-1996,


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when the return to democracy led to the creation o the Presidential Commission or Growth

and Economic Modernization, which included signicant private sector representation.

This commission developed a detailed agenda or economic and institutional reorm and a

signicant number o planning studies.

Much o this progress was lost between 2000 and 2006 beore being revived by Prval

with the creation o seven thematic presidential commissions in 2007. Several o these

new commissions have produced useul strategic plans and, while limited in scope, were

examples o how improved public-private co-operation could be eective, laying the

groundwork or urther joint endeavours. The goal or uture PPD work is to move beyond

analysis and reports to lead the implementation o plans or growth and job creation.

The new government is seen as legitimate and open to talk, ollowing in the ootsteps

o an outgoing government that was genuinely engaged. The tragedy o the earthquake

highlights the pressure on all actors to share the responsibility o national development. All

Haitians share the same goal: strong and widespread economic growth.

Based on analysis o past eorts at PPD, and signicant discussion at the Washington

roundtable, a series o key ideas can be highlighted:

PPD is most eective when the government has a legitimate democratic mandate.

PPD requires trust and openness rom participants and public transparency. While

disagreements will arise, there is value in listening to and addressing the concerns o

other groups.

Fragmentation and division within the private sector hurts the position o the business

community and is an impediment to an ecient PPD. Unanimity o opinion is not

required or desired, but co-ordinated representation led by modern and open private

sector elements improve the value o PPD initiatives.

It is important to institutionalize PPD eorts. This will ensure that participants are

conscious o their responsibilities to the institution, o their collective responsibilities to

the country, and o the need to be accountable to Haitian citizens.

There must be a clear denition o structure and goals o PPD to ensure that people will

co-operate within a managed ramework.

A sustainable and ecient PPD requires local unding, both rom the private sector and

the government. Foreign political conditionality o unding may undermine the PPD

process.

The PPD should be ormally connected to broader economic and political mechanisms

to ensure that recommendations can lead to concrete results.

The tragedy of theearthquake highligh

the pressure onall actors to sharethe responsibility

of nationaldevelopment. AllHaitians share the

same goal: strong anwidespread econom

growth.


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Mechanisms to enable analysis o the impact o the policy changes must be designed.

Given resource constraints in the country, such a mechanism should also serve to help

prioritize action.

The agenda o the PPD should be highly streamlined and strictly prioritized to ensure

that limited resources are used eectively.

Three questions were highlighted as key to move orward with PPD: What orm should

the process take? Who should participate? What should the agenda be? Three broad

types o mechanisms were suggested, based primarily on the participants involved. The

institutionalization o more than one o these mechanisms could be possible, with dierent

mechanisms playing dierent roles. First, it could take the orm o a public-private group with

representatives rom government and the private sector. Second, it could be based on a broad

mechanism or social dialogue with representatives rom government, the private sector,

unions and civil society groups. Third, a Conseil conomique et socialcould be created with a

very broad membership and a broad mandate to address economic, social and political issues.

Participation in the PPD process may include one broad dialogue including many groups

or multiple narrowly specied subgroups that can address particular issues. In deciding on

participation limits, it will be necessary to balance inclusiveness and eectiveness. This applies

both to the organization o the private sector and to the co-ordination o the entire PPD

process:

All participants must have a vested interest in the process and the outcome to encourage

people to engage or results.

Rather than ocusing entirely on the executive branch, PPD eorts must recognize

parliament and civil society as important partners. The countrys history o autocratic

regimes has led to the tendency to view the executive branch as the exclusive

interlocutor in PPD. But with the advance o democracy, the spectrum o legitimate,

capable and necessary stakeholders has expanded. Parliament must be permanently

involved and brought in at the beginning o discussions, either in conjunction with the

executive branch or through a separate joint mechanism. This would allow dialogue that

can help align interests and address dierences over an extended period.

Ensure that any mechanism has government ownership at the highest ministerial levels,

and that responsibility is not passed by the minister onto subordinates.

SME representatives should be included in the dialogue.

One possible design would be to have multiple issue-ocused bodies (or multiple tiers

o participants) led by a central core. The details o these potential arrangements need

urther elaboration to ensure the balance between eectiveness and representation.

Rather than focusingentirely on the

executive branch,PPD efforts must

recognize parliamentand civil society asimportant partners.


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Any new PPD mechanism would also require both nancial and human resources to support

the process. There was signicant discussion around the idea o having a small permanent

secretariat to provide operational and research capacity to the PPD process. Without

competent sta dedicated solely to supporting the PPD process, the undertaking will not

succeed. In addition, the private sector will need dedicated ull-time sta behind an entity to

co-ordinate inputs, decision-making and acilitate participation rom the private sector. The

current ad hoc and part-time volunteer eorts are not sustainable over the short term, let

alone the longer term, and will severely undermine the PPD process as well as the credibility

o the private sector. However, an important point to this and all other advisory councils that

would be part o any PPD process is that advisory members should not be paid, ollowing

rom the example o Prvals presidential commissions. Any secretariat and technical support

would be hired on a proessional basis. While the FESP (or other participating private sector

representatives) would be unded by the private sector, support rom the international

community or the PPD mechanism may be appropriate, provided that the design and

operation o the mechanism is led by Haitians.

The private sector needs to develop a strong, credible capacity to articulate pertinent

and detailed proposals that can create consensus and be easily implemented by the

administration. The FESP is the obvious leading contender to play that role. Its 2010

document Vision and Roadmap o the Private Sector was unded exclusively by the private

sector and can be seen both as a prioritization o issues or ollow-up and a commitment

to the implementation o solutions. The FESP work in bringing together key associations

and companies, including a group representing SMEs, provides it with signicant legitimacy

as the leading private sector interlocutor. Because so much o Haitis economy exists in the

inormal and SME sectors, the FESP, or any other group that would claim to speak on behal

o the private sector, must make continuous eorts to ensure that it remains representative.There is also a need to consistently include voices rom all regions o the country and rom

all parts o the economy. As long as the FESP operates in a transparent manner and engages

with a wide array o private sector actors, it could play an important role in the PPD process.

Next steps

Any new PPD process will have to build on the success o small steps in order to gain support

as it expands rom the centre out, rather than to try implementing a wide-scale PPD system

immediately as this may create inappropriate expectations o quick successes. One option tocommence this process would be to nominate someone well-regarded by both the public

and private sectors to meet with all groups and design a joint platorm. Building on this joint

platorm, an outline o the agenda and operation o the PPD could be presented to a larger

audience or discussion and approval rather than as a ait accompli.

With the apparent ailure o old PPD mechanisms, the government may want to consider

an interim initiative with a limited time rame. This would be a quick process that would


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not use up too much energy and political capital, which could then be directed at actual

implementation o projects rather than laboriously constructing new institutions. A

cautionary note on interim initiatives is that it could become a distraction as a short-term

ocus could interrupt long-term structural progress.

A pressing issue in the PPD process is how to prioritize activities. Two alternatives were

debated in Washington, D.C. On the one hand, all eorts could be ocused on ensuring

quick wins. This would require choosing activities that could be implemented quickly

without losing momentum to the development, debate, passing and implementation o

legislation or an unproven idea and process. Success rom the rst set o activities would

build momentum and condence throughout the government to move more expeditiously

and enthusiastically with more dicult issues. The government could then more easily apply

the necessary resources to the PPD process. On the other hand, some participants preerred

a two-track approach to work on strategic long-term items in parallel with quick wins to

ensure that deeper structural changes are set in motion. There was no consensus on the

best option.


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Acknowledgements

This event, the ourth in a series o roundtables between the Haitian private sector and

international donors, was a collaborative eort between the Canadian Foundation or the

Americas (FOCAL) and the Forum conomique du secteur priv (FESP) o Haiti. The Inter-

American Dialogue provided organizational and strategic support. Funding was provided by

the Government o Canada through the Canadian International Development Agency.

We would like express our gratitude to the representatives o the Haitian private sector and

the members o the international community who gave their time to work on the agenda

and participate in this meeting.

This report was written by Gerald Stang, FOCAL consultant, and Raaela Antoniazzi, Project

Co-ordinator at FOCAL, who both served as rapporteurs at the meeting, and edited by

FOCAL Executive Director Carlo Dade, who chaired the roundtable. Every eort has been

made to remain true to the presentations and interventions that occurred in Washington.We apologize or any inadvertent errors o acts or interpretation occasioned by diculties in

transcribing and summarizing these complex discussions.


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FOCAL projects are undertaken with the fnancial support o the

Government o Canada provided through the Canadian Interna-

tional Development Agency (CIDA)

Les projets de FOCAL sont raliss avec lappui fnancier du

gouvernement du Canada agissant par lentremise de lAgence

canadienne de dveloppement international (ACDI)

The Canadian Foundation or the Americas (FOCAL) is an independent, non-partisan think tank dedicated to

strengthening Canadian relations with Latin America and the Caribbean through policy dialogue and analysis.

By providing key stakeholders with solutions-oriented research on social, political and economic issues, we

strive to create new partnerships and policy options throughout the Western Hemisphere. FOCAL promotes

good governance, economic prosperity and social justice, basing our work on principles o intellectual

integrity, racial diversity and gender equality.

For more inormation on FOCAL and its activities and projects, please visit our website at www.ocal.ca.

FOCALCanadian Foundation for the Americas

1 Nicholas St., Suite 720, Ottawa, ON K1N 7B7

Tel: 613-562-0005, Fax: 613-562-2525

Email: [email protected]

www.focal.ca

Canadian Foundation or the Americas. All rights reserved.

The opinions expressed in this paper are those o the authorand do not necessarily refect the views o FOCAL, its board or sta.

Documents

Haiti an Agenda for Etats Generaux in Haiti Third Roundtable of the Willson House Process May 2011 Event