Investing in Haiti

QUESTION: If you had BILLIONS of DOLLARS to give to Haiti, would you: A) Take the money and give it to the poor, feed them and give them shelter OR... B) Invest in the long term economic recovery of Haiti, create jobs so the poor people can work, feed themselves and provide their own shelter??? I am asking because...

Heineken has just announced that it plans to invest more than than 100 million dollars in Haiti... Of course to produce more beer... What you didn't know? Heineken owns Brasserie Nationale d'Haiti (BRANA)... Poko sezi pitit... LOL... There's more!

Newly-elected chairman of the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America (AACCLA), Nicholas Galt, is looking to develop business opportunities in Haiti and he is suggesting that Caricom, of which Haiti is a member, should make travel access of citizens of the country to the region much easier.

Did you know? Borlette in Haiti is a two billion a year industry... That's BILLION with a 'B'. I don't know if it is in gourdes, in Haitian dollars or U.S. but... That's a heck of a lot of money if you ask me!

QUESTION - What type of small business would you start in Haiti right now? Start-up cost must be USD $500 or less, and it has to be so simple that anyone can manage it...

True of False? If you bought a piece of land in Haiti over year ago, it would now be worth a lot more than what you paid for it. Had you left that money sleeping in Bank of America, I think we both agree you would barely get one one dollar interest on it.

In case you didn't know, let me tell you... Heineken and Guinness now own 100 percent of the Haitian beer brand PRESTIGE... Heineken International owns 95 percent and Guinness owns the remaining five percent...

The new $15 million, seven-story, Best Western Premier four-star hotel is completed and open for business in Petion-Ville Haiti.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti: Digicel and Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) today broke ground on the $45 million 175-room Marriott Hotels & Resorts brand hotel in the Turgeau area of Port-au-Prince, with opening expected in early 2015, making it the first four-star branded hotel in Haiti.

The lack of a Haiti Sewer System and Waste Water Treatment facility makes it impossible to even dream about certain types of businesses in Haiti - A Laundromat in downtown Hinche Haiti for instance...