VZCZCXRO6943
PP RUEHQU
DE RUEHPU #1705/01 2961142
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231142Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY PORT AU PRINCE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7090
INFO RUEHZH/HAITI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 1682
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 1496
RUEHQU/AMCONSUL QUEBEC PRIORITY 0923
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 1337

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PORT AU PRINCE 001705 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/EX AND WHA/CAR 
S/CRS 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
STATE PASS AID FOR LAC/CAR 
INR/IAA 
WHA/EX PLEASE PASS USOAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID ECON HA
SUBJECT: BUILDING SYNERGY: IMPROVING ECONOMIC PROSPECTS IN 
CITE SOLEIL 
 
PORT AU PR 00001705  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. Summary: As part of a new effort to generate long term 
employment, the Haiti Stabilization Initiative (HSI) and 
USAID are encouraging private sector interest in Cite Soleil. 
 Several major Haitian business figures are leading social 
welfare projects in Cite Soleil and are interested in 
providing technical assistance and vocational training to the 
impoverished and gang-ridden neighborhood.  HSI, through 
USAID, may be able to provide some technical assistance.   On 
a separate track, HSI organized a public forum to spark 
interest in re-entering Cite Soleil.  Microfinance 
organizations as well as a micro-franchise cell phone program 
appeared willing to enter the Cite Soleil market.  While 
security concerns and lack of infrastructure are still 
impediments to economic growth, there are promising 
developments such as Sogesol's public announcement at the 
forum that it would soon begin providing lending services in 
Cite Soleil.  End Summary. 
 
Business Leaders Playing Philanthropic Role 
-------------- 
 
¶2. HSI and USAID representatives met with major Haitian 
business figures on October 4 to discuss comparative 
advantage, investment, and job creation in Cite Soleil. 
Participants included owners of businesses operating in Cite 
Soleil or its environs.  HSI StabCoord provided an overview 
of HSI activities and invited attendees to suggest 
possibilities for collaboration.  Rather than focusing on the 
needs of their own businesses however, participants discussed 
the social welfare projects they have initiated. 
 
¶3. Several projects address the need to bring children in 
from the streets and provide them with educational 
opportunities and job prospects.  Patrick Brun, owner of 
building materials company Batimat and board member of the 
nonprofit Haitian Project, is supporting a merit-based 
secondary school and an incubator program for entrepreneurs. 
 He is also collaborating with the GOH as well as the private 
and NGO sectors to start a school for 1,600 children aged 
five to ten.  They have the land, equipment, and staffing and 
are searching for another partner to help complete the 
modification of the building. 
 
¶4. Gregory Mevs, a well-known and respected business leader, 
said Cite Soleil's history as a manufacturing center and port 
make it an ideal location for trade.  The Chamber of Commerce 
is reaching out to small merchants to help them organize and 
see themselves as stakeholders in the future of Cite Soleil, 
according to Mevs.  Paul Duret talked about the organic 
banana cooperative in the vicinity of Cite Soleil and the 
prospects for profitable urban agriculture in the area. 
Claudine Auguste, who owns a paving factory, formed a working 
group of 33 businesses that were pushed out of Cite Soleil 
due to gang violence.  Auguste said the GOH Ministry of 
Finance earmarked funds to help restart these businesses but 
has yet to distribute them. 
 
¶5. Several participants talked about lack of infrastructure 
and sanitation in particular.  Trash collection in 
Port-au-Prince is still a major problem.  During the rainy 
season, garbage from the capital washes down to Cite Soleil. 
Auguste is looking into the feasibility of a sanitation 
company that would recycle glass, metal, and plastics, and 
produce compost for sale.  Business leaders expressed concern 
about maintaining security in Cite Soleil, but were also 
interested in vocational training for port workers, technical 
assistance, and access to capital. 
 
Microfinance Community Interested 
-------------- 
 
¶6. HSI presented a micro-entrepreneurship town-hall style 
forum on October 11 at the Mayor's office in Cite Soleil. 
The forum primarily addressed the issue of access to capital 
for small businesses.  Panel participants included 
representatives from the microfinance and micro-insurance 
sectors, as well as a cell phone company with a 
micro-franchise program.  The main objective of the forum was 
to encourage the microfinance sector to recognize 
 
PORT AU PR 00001705  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
opportunities for growth in Cite Soleil and to see the 
willingness of others to enter the market. 
 
¶7. Cite Soleil Mayor Wilson Louis opened the forum to a crowd 
of over 100 community leaders.  Panelists explained the 
services they provide, which range from micro-credit/savings 
and micro-insurance to literacy training, business skills 
training and technical assistance.  These services can 
jumpstart small businesses and encourage growth and job 
creation among existing businesses.  Currently only one of 
the organizations has a branch in Cite Soleil.  Sogesol, the 
microfinance arm of the largest commercial bank in Haiti, 
Sogebank, brought two carloads of staff to the forum.   The 
audience applauded when Sogesol President Pierre-Marie 
Boisson announced that Sogesol would start lending services. 
 
¶8. Jean-Paul Faubert's presentation of a cell phone-based 
micro-franchise program generated considerable interest. 
Digicel, a major service provider in the Caribbean, and its 
affiliate Alo Communications have teamed together to offer 
EasyFlex, a free plan that allows clients to resell minutes 
in smaller increments at a profit.  Faubert says similar 
plans are highly successful in African markets. 
 
¶9. While a segment of the audience was more focused on 
obtaining handouts, not loans, many attendees were genuinely 
interested in the products on offer.  A couple of dozen 
stayed after the conclusion of the forum to talk with the 
presenters.  The panelists seemed enthusiastic about 
prospects in Cite Soleil.  However, security remains a 
concern.  Real Deschenes, who runs a community-based 
cooperative association and provides technical assistance to 
credit cooperatives in Haiti, said, ''Without security there 
can be no financial sector.''  (Note: HSI has been very clear 
in stating to all that the purpose of the visits and meetings 
is to aid in advance planning for a return of businesses 
following the re-introduction of police, not before.  End 
note.) 
 
Next Steps 
-------------- 
 
¶10. StabCoord said the first meeting generated a lot of ideas 
and provided ''more bricks to build with.''  HSI is 
considering partnering with Brun on the school project (para 
3) and will encourage the GOH Ministry of Finance to release 
the funding to Auguste's working group (para 4). 
Additionally, HSI plans to follow up regarding technical 
assistance and vocational training. 
 
¶11. The micro-entrepreneurship forum, and particularly 
Sogesol's announcement, generated a critical mass of interest 
among panelists and community leaders.  HSI intends to 
capitalize on this synergy by promoting the concept of a 
one-stop shop for financial services (credit, savings, 
business skills training, incubator services, etc) in Cite 
Soleil.  Interested organizations could share security risks 
as well as overhead expenses in opening a new location in 
Cite Soleil.  HSI might be able to help with certain 
infrastructure improvements and introductions to key 
leadership, with USAID providing technical assistance through 
its Support to Haiti's Microfinance, Small and Medium 
Enterprise Project (Haiti MSME). 
 
Background 
-------------- 
 
¶12. Community building activities form a main component of 
HSI.  The program has launched a sizeable number of small 
infrastructure projects, generating both goodwill and 
short-term jobs.  Additionally, the program has been working 
with GOH police and MINUSTAH to introduce community policing 
to the area.  HSI formulated a two-track approach to build on 
these gains.  The program is targeting macro- and 
micro-sectors to promote long-term job creation, economic 
opportunities, and lasting stability in Cite Soleil. 
 
¶13. Comment:  The business leaders' social welfare projects 
will only bear fruit over time.  We are also working with 
 
PORT AU PR 00001705  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
them on providing for their non-monetary needs -- better 
qualified workers, technical assistance on implementing 
projects, and coordination.  While Sogesol is ready to enter 
the market despite security concerns, the one-stop financial 
shop concept will take some months to get off the ground for 
the other microfinance institutions.  Clearly, maintaining 
and increasing security is critical to the success of these 
efforts.  Embassy will continue working with the Haitian 
National Police and MINUSTAH on this issue. 
SANDERSON