30155: Re: 30142: Leiderman (inquiry) re 30133: remittances; "apres moi, le divulge..." (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: patlucien@yahoo.com

Haitians are better off NOT counting on international donations and NOT rely on 
those funds year after year to build the country.

Most of the donor's funds go to major International NGOs anyways because they 
impose some many  requirements on the projects that most local NGOs  or 
companies can not even think about applying for the projects. although often 
time, the Haitian NGO are subcontracted to do the real work.

A better approach is for Haitians to start having an entrepreneurial spirit and 
come up with sound businesses to implement in Haiti and invite the diaspora to 
invest.  Haiti has tree major resources, Land, people and culture. We are 
better off taking advantage of what we have, build an investment fund, and 
invest in some businesses that make sense. Anything from a small Inn, resort, 
hotels, to a plantation of fruit/vegetable  to some major project like a 
Bio-diesel plant should be the kind of things to think of. Yes, there are 
risks, but for one thing, the money invested will be used in Haiti and someone 
will at least find employment.

How is this country to develop when the government can not collect taxes 
because everything is Non-Profit.

Seems to me that a good portion of those donor funds are used for "conferences, 
Table Ronde, Summits, feasibility study, researches, reports, visits", not much 
on implementation. There is always a new report on Haiti.  All the money spent 
on report could have been used to creates new small enterprises.   Taxes 
collected from those enterprises can then be use for reports.

Again, if the diaspora could find some good sound small businesses and invest 
10% of that remittance into those businesses, we'll be better off.   To say we 
need more entrepreneurs, business people, ....

Jean-Patrick Lucien
Dream big. Do good. Live well.