Richard Coles, president of the Association of Manufacturers of Haiti (AIH) and Fernando Capellán, president of the Dominican Association of Free Zones signed a strategic alliance yesterday. "It is time to see Haiti as an opportunity, not a problem," said Capellán upon announcing the agreement. The agreement will create new jobs in Haiti and will enable the DR to make more of the recently passed Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. Coles told the Listín Diario newspaper that the agreement is a positive step in the direction of achieving development in Haiti and consequently reducing the massive exodus of Haitians to the DR. The exodus of indigent Haitians to the DR is creating major social problems in the DR. Coles favors the construction of industrial free zones along the frontier as contemplated in the Haiti-DR plan. While the agreement is purely a private sector pact, it is signed within the framework of proactiveness set by the Dominican-Haitian Bilateral Comission. The agreement seeks to establish manufacturing links that integrate production and expand export opportunities now that both countries can benefit from the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act that goes into effect 1 October 2000. The signing of the agreement took place at a reception Adozona offered to honor Dominicans and foreigners who had made key contributions to the approval of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA). This treaty, approved this year by the US government, permits the DR to export apparel to the US under similar conditions to that achieved by Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
