In a visit to South Florida

Jean-Max Bellerive

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, who is overseeing the projects with UN Special Envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton, said they will soon issue major financing and construction contracts. He said smaller road building contracts have already been signed as Haiti works to recover from the massive January 12 earthquake which devastated the capital and many surrounding areas.

With a promise to investors that the usual bureaucracy that predates the earthquake has been addressed, Bellerive said the rebuilding will create jobs for the many unemployed in the country. He also pointed to the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, promising that Haiti’s leaders are committed to seeing it through.

Haitian President Rene Préval will term out of office on February 7, 2011, but may be allowed to stay in office three additional months if the November 28 elections are not held.

However, the prime minister restated the president’s pledge to stick to the schedule. Free, fair and peaceful elections usually boost investor confidence – something that Haiti needs especially in the wake of this crisis.

“If we don't have transparent elections, we won't have investment, either,” Bellerive said, adding that “It's one deal.”

Bellerive and Clinton will oversee the more than $5 billion in donor pledges for the next 18 months.

The prime minister played up economic opportunities in Haiti, which include trade breaks for Haiti’s textile industry, which have been extended to 2020. Haiti’s textile and apparel industry is one of their biggest exports to the U.S., which earned the nation $513 million last year.

In addition to the exports, a number of international lenders, including the World Bank, the Intern-American Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund have canceled millions of dollars of Haiti’s debt. But the prime minister said this gesture was not a free ride, but an acknowledgement of Haiti’s attempts to stem corruption and promote investments.

Bellerive said, “They recognize that we fight corruption, that we are a transparent government.” He said, “It's the main reason, if not the sole reason, that they erased the debt — not because of the earthquake.”

The earthquake left some 300,000 people dead and about 1.5 million homeless when it destroyed a large number of buildings including the presidential palace, schools, hospitals and homes.