Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Ibero American General Secretariat (SEGIB) and the Spanish Government, announced Friday, a fund of 67 million to finance the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Haiti as part of rebuilding the country.

he joint announcement was made by Luis Alberto Moreno, IDB President, Soraya Rodriguez, Secretary of State for International Cooperation and the Spanish and Enrique Iglesias Secretary General of SEGIB at the XX Summit of Heads of State and Government, held last Friday in the seaside resort of Mar del Plata in Argentina.

Soraya Rodriguez declared that the funds will help restore "without economic activity it is not possible to believe in a genuine reconstruction of the country [...] Haiti needs to rebuild roads, bridges and social network. To do this, the most important thing is to create jobs".

This fund will allow SMEs in Haiti to have access to loans from $10,000 to $300,000. This is the Inter-American Investment Corporation, which has responsibility for managing the fund, which will channel resources to local financial institutions, responsible for processing applications for SMEs. In addition, the IDB will follow the projects initiated by SMEs, representing over 80% of the national economy of Haiti.

Moreno recalled that the IDB undertook to provide $200 million annual aid to Haiti between 2010 and 2020.

PI/ HaitiLibre