WASHINGTON DC – Haiti’s Prime Minister Jacques-Édouard Alexis, on a visit Wednesday, April 4 to the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS), thanked the hemispheric organization for its longstanding support of Haiti.
The Prime Minister expressed the appreciation of President René Préval’s government during a meeting with the OAS Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Albert R. Ramdin.
“We are encouraged by the strengthening of those ties,” Prime Minister Alexis said in an interview after the meeting, referring to the cooperation between Haiti and the OAS.
The Haitian Prime Minister underscored the importance of OAS role over the years, including its help in promoting the return to constitutional order and its support toward the successful holding of elections.
Ambassador Ramdin described Prime Minister Alexis’ visit as an expression of the continued strong commitment between the OAS and Haiti. The OAS will continue to support important projects in that country, he said, noting in particular efforts related to the civil registry and production and distribution of identification cards as well as to the strengthening of Haiti’s electoral system and electoral machinery.
The visit by the Prime Minister “gave us an opportunity to discuss in a wider context the relationship between the OAS and Haiti; the importance of the security environment; and the promotion of a more positive image of Haiti as a country with opportunities for investment and economic growth,” said the Assistant Secretary General, who chairs the OAS Haiti Task Force.
Ramdin noted that the appointment of a new OAS country representative in Haiti—Trinidad and Tobago diplomat Arthur Gray—and the current streamlining of the OAS country office will further strengthen that commitment.
The Assistant Secretary General also spoke about plans to visit Haiti next week, when he hopes to discuss in more detail with the Haitian authorities a trade and investment forum that will be staged in Haiti next September. The Haitian Prime Minister also noted the importance of this event, which is being coordinated by the OAS, and said support is being mobilized from both the private and public sector to ensure the success of the initiative.
On the visit to the OAS, the Haitian Prime Minister was accompanied by a contingent that included advisors Ambassador Raymond Valcin and Jacky Lumarque and Haiti’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, Ambassador Duly Brutus. Valcin is a former Permanent Representative to the OAS and Lumarque is Dean of Haiti’s Quisqueya University.
