22664: Durban: Speaker/Organization Sought to Promote Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com>

Corbetters-

These days, Haiti's role in the industrialized world is pretty
much limited to contract sewing plus some small-scale
manufacturing for local consumption.  Occasional mention of job
creation mostly it boils down to wishful thinking.  Indeed,
virtually no effort is being made to attract foreign investors
or companies with a product to build.

One such opportunity could be at a "free tutorial", which I am
moderating at a trade show in Indianapolis on September 21st.
Details on the show are available online at:

          http://www.electricalmanufacturing.org

My session is entitled "How to Compete with China", and when I
volunteered for this little assignment last December, I hoped to
include 20 minute presentations from 3 Caribbean basin countries
looking to promote investment.  Mexico and Honduras are already
on-board, with Honduras sending a high level government
official.  Unfortunately, Haitian government response has been
tepid, essentially: "good idea, no funds available, maybe some
other year".

Cost would involve pulling together a 20 minute slide show or
power point presentation, and getting the speaker to and from
Indianapolis.  For a bootstrapping promoter, this ought to be
peanuts, and a non-profit organization supplying the speaker
would be eligible for a complementary 10'x10' booth at the 3 day
show for the express purpose of promoting Haiti.  This booth
space alone normally sells for over $2000.  The PVO taking it
would undoubtedly incur some additional expense including the
cost of literature to  distribute and sending someone to man the
booth, but again, the cost should be fairly nominal.

Besides his presentation, the speaker would sit on a brief
post-presentation round table discussion and probably field a
couple of questions from the audience.  If anyone is interested,
or can recommend a speaker, I can supply additional information
on the trade show and the "free tutorial" I am organizing.  My
company is a member of the sponsoring association (EMCWA) and
has been exhibiting for the past 15 years.

Lance Durban
www.manutech.us