21389: Labrom: Conference between the Public and Private Sector (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

>From voyageslumiere@haitelonline.com

Fellow Corbeteers:

I have just attended a wonderful Working Seminar put on by the new
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Mme Danielle Saint Lot. It
was headed: A workshop of  Reflection (Consideration): A partnership
between the Public & Private Sector for the revival of Business.  It was
held at Moulin sur Mer on Thursday and Friday, just passed.

They expected to have about 150 people attending but in fact there was
over 200 - from all kinds of different business backgrounds as well as
members of the public sector.  The leader of the Seminar was Mme.
Josette Bruffaerts-Thomas who is the President of Competitive
Intelligence Management, a Haitian woman, based in Paris, and Hans
Tippenhauer, Co-ordinator of Jeune Ayiti.

Mme. Bruffaerts-Thomas has known the Minister for a long time and came
on her own resources and own time to put this seminar on for Mme Saint
Lot.

There were 8 different workshops covering different sectors: Small and
Medium Businesses, Medium and Large businesses, Agricultural business &
Fisheries, Information Technology, Sub-contracting businesses,
Construction and Accommodation, the Informal sector and of course my
favourite - Tourism, (amongst others).

We listened first of all to Jean-Claude Paulfin, President of the
Haitian Association of Economists, plus Mr. Kesner Pharel, President and
DG of the Croissance Group  - he was excellent, but didn't have enough
time to expand on his subject - which was a Partnership of Public &
Private Sectors for better competition for the Haitian economy.

Then we went into workshops of the different sectors. Tourism was the
second biggest workshop, (Construction being the first I believe). We
had to do a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats) first of all.  Of course in reporting from the different
sectors, the biggest threat was Insecurity.

Then we had to present 3 projects to be given to the government for them
to carry out. Each project had to have the effect of multiplying itself,
and creating riches and employment, sector by sector. They had
anticipated fewer people and expected to have about 8 projects, but in
fact we gave them 24 projects in total.

We had to also institute a follow up by the private sector, and in every
single sector there was 100% commitment to working to bring about the
realisation of these projects, including regular weekly meetings and
commitment to giving training etc. etc.

Each time we finished a workshop there was a presentation to all the
attendees and there was someone there who put all the information onto
the computer to enable a presentation later on. Many of the workshops
were working until 11pm.

People were so buzzed about the seminar and so positive about what was
happening that they were calling it 'The Renaissance of Haiti'.  Many
said that this was the first time there had been a concerted effort to
work hand in hand - public and private sectors. I remember not long
after I came back here in '97 I worked for Maryse Penette Kedar at the
Sec. of State for Tourism, and I was told by Haitian hotel owners that I
should make my decision as to whether I was going to work for the
Private sector OR the public sector!!! One couldn't sit on the fence!!!
Well that attitude seems to have changed, which is great.

(Maryse was there on Thursday also - and by the way the rumours that
were printed in the Nouvelliste that the Cruise ships were not coming
back to Haiti were not true!!! - MPK told me that the cruise ships bring
in a revenue of US$2million per year!!!)

On Friday afternoon we were honored with the presence of the Prime
Minister and we had the chance of presenting the outcome of our work. So
Mme Bruffaerts-Thomas read out to him all the projects which we had
suggested.

Then Dominique Carvonis from Moulin sur Mer made a presentation of 'The
Rules of the Game for a New Partnership and Agreement between the
Private & Public Sectors' in two words:

FAIRE & INVESTIR - she used them as acronyms:

ROLE OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR = FAIRE:

F aciliter
A ccompagner
I nstitutionaliser
R eglement
E ncadrer/Engager

Role of the Private Sector = INVESTIR:

I nitier
N ormaliser
E mployer
S atisfaire
T ravailler
I nnover
R assembler

The Result of these two actions would be SUCCESS FOR HAITI.

The Prime Minister congratulated everyone, saying that in 2 days we had
managed to put together his program for the Govt. for the next two
years!!! Dominique received a standing ovation for her brilliant summing
up of the Seminar.

When the PM spoke he told us about his meeting with the Fund givers in
the next few days and said that the major areas he would be talking to
them about were:

ENERGY - hoping that before the next 5 years were up that ALL of Haiti
would be supplied with the total of their energy needs - home, business,
etc. etc.

ROADS - as means of communication.

TRAINING OF HUMAN RESOURCES

He said that there were also other areas he would be talking about -
Health, including AIDS, Women's rights, Human rights etc. etc.

If a full document comes out about this seminar as we hope it will, I
will try and get a copy (in English) for the Corbett list members.

Everyone went home absolutely buzzing with energy and hope for the
future.

Let's pray that these things are made to happen in order to found a new
and better Haiti.

Jacqui Labrom

VOYAGES LUMIERE

email: voyageslumiere@haitelonline.com

Look at our website: www.voyageslumierehaiti.com

'Journeys for the enlightened traveler'
'Voyages pour le touriste éclairé'
'Viajes para el turista iluminado'

Office/home numbers: (509) 249-6177/557-0753