Open for business

摘要

Asif anyone needed reminding that Haiti is often synonymous with poverty and tragedy, on Christmas Eve more than three dozen emigrants from the country drowned after their overcrowded boat sank off the eastern tip of Cuba. Even before a massive earthquake in January 2010 devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, Haiti was a stain on the conscience of the Americas. Now Michel Martelly, the new president, wants to change his country's image from basket case to business opportunity. His officials talk up the tourist potential of 1,700km (1,060 miles) of coastline, and the attraction for investors of a productive workforce and tropical crops like mangoes and coffee. "The Haitian people are not looking for handouts, but for a hand up-for jobs and work that will restore their dignity," Mr. Martelly told a recent investment conference sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank.